A p ril 13, 2011
f o r i l a nò (Ob s erti er
Page II
Rapper Wiz Khalifa Surges to Fame
Gets compared
to young version
of Snoop Dog
( AP) -- With a blond streak run­
ning up his uncombed Afro, rapper
Wiz Khalifa leans back in his chair
seemingly without acare in the world,
as the aroma of marijuana rises from
his gray sweater.
This is a snapshot of rap’s new­
est sensation.
"Weed is just my thing," says the
23-year-old, whose latest album,
"Rolling Papers," debuted last week
at No. 2 on the album charts with
more than 198,000 copies sold, put­
ting him right behind Britney Spears.
Some say the 6-foot-4 Khalifa,
who skyrocketed up the charts with
his omnipresent hit "Black and Yel­
low," reminds them of a younger
version of Snoop Dogg, a rapper
who he idolizes. They're both tall
and lanky; they also have a fond­
ness for marijuana with carefree at­
titudes. The older rapper has taken
Khalifa under his wing, and they've
even recorded together.
Khalifa was bom in North Dakota
and grew up as a military kid, living in
different countries from Japan to
Germany before laying his roots down
in the blue-collar city of Pittsburgh.
"It helped me how to deal with
different people, being able to inter-
Wiz Khalifa
act with other kids," he says. "Just
having those different walks of life,
from living on base then in the city
and real world. It gives you a better
understanding o f how people's
minds work."
Pittsburgh is where Khalifa honed
his creativity as a songwriter, realiz­
ing his ability to soundly mesh rap
and singing together.
Khalifa built a strong grass-roots
fan base through a se ries o f
mixtapes, earning him a deal with
Warner Bros, in 2007, with his debut
"Say Yeah," which reached No. 20
on Billboard's Hot Rap charts. Two
years later he bolstered his name
through Twitter. He released his
mixtape "Kush & Orange Juice" to
download for free, creating a buzz
that became the No. 1 trending topic
the entire day on the social network­
ing site. That led him into a new deal
with Atlantic Records.
With a major label backing him,
Khalifa figured it would only be a
matter of time before his career would
take off, but he didn't anticipate it
would bt* because of "Black and
Yellow," which paid homage to
hometown team — the NFL's Pitts­
burgh Steelers.
The song thrived with its catchy
hook, becoming last year's phenom­
enon that influenced some of rap's
elite, from Lil Wayne to Snoop Dogg,
to remix the song and salute their
favorite team.
For Khalifa, the release of "Black
and Yellow" came at a perfect time
when the Steelers made a run to­
ward the Super Bowl XLV. Even
though his favorite team lost in the
championship game
If there's any doubt whether
Khalifa can surpass the one-hit
wonder status, look no further than
his futuristic pop-sounding, "No
Sleep." It's has already soared to
No. 1 on the iTunes top 10 list. And
his single "Roll Up" reached No. 6
on Billboard's Hot Rap Songs.
"From the moment he walks in,
you know he's a star," says Erik
Hermansen, who also produced
"Roll Up." "That's theX -factoryou
can't really teach somebody. It
comes from the artist. He's got that."
Khalifa doesn't expect the hits to
stop anytime soon.
"It's like motivation to do more
and just like stay level-headed," he
says, "stay chillin'. ... But at the
same time let people know how good
lam ."
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