Here Comes The Wiz

When Neon Desert Music Festival announced their 2014 lineup in March, festival-goers old and new alike were equally shocked and excited—both by the caliber of acts unveiled and the kaleidoscope of genres. There it was sprawled across the top of the bill. Hip Hop artists, Wiz Khalifa.

Khalifa, a chart topping, mainstream rapper and independent record label owner, makes his El Paso debut headlining the festival. Based out of Pittsburg Pennsylvania, Khalifa is known as much for his party songs/stoner anthems as he is for his unique appearance. Dubbed part hip-hop bohemian, part stoner chic, his trademark yellow streaked hair and countless tattoos which he claim are his diary lend themselves well to the claim.

The 26 year old, born Cameron Jibril Thomaz, credits his grandfather for his stage moniker.  Khalifa is of Arabic origin meaning ‘successor’. Wiz was shortened from wisdom.

In 2004, at the early age of 16, Khalifa was hitting the hip-hop scene in his hometown and found himself lending his talents to the mixtapes of various local artists. It was then that Benjy Grinberg, president of Rostrum Records, took notice of Khalifa. Soon after in 2005, Khalifa released his first mixtape Prince of the City: Welcome to Pistolvania. Following the release of Show and Prove, his first full length album in 2006, Rolling Stone magazine took notice and declared Khalifa as an “artist to watch.”  By 2007, while still releasing mixtapes through Rostrum Records, Khalifa signed to Warner Brothers Records. After a multitude of delays in releasing his album under the label in 2009, he parted ways instead.

It was 2010 that proved to be a turning point in Khalifa’s career. After performing at a South by Southwest in Austin, TX, national hip-hop media outlets began to take notice.  Khalifa found himself on magazine covers and receiving such accolades as “Rookie of the Year” by The Source Magazine.

As Khalifa had done from the start, he continued releasing mixtapes under Rostrum Records. That summer he released Kush and Orange Juice. Upon its release, the mixtape became the number one trending topic throughout social media outlets—he attributes that to his loyal fan base. In continuing his climb to stardom he was named MTV’s Hottest Breakthrough MC of 2010. Soon he was performing at hip-hop festivals across the nation—like Soundset and Rock the Bells alongside powerhouse acts such as Wu-Tang Clan, KRS-One, Snoop Dogg, A Tribe called Quest, Atmosphere and Lauryn Hill to name a few. During that time, rapper Drake invited Khalifa to tour with him. He declined and went on to sellout a 50 city national tour with rapper Yelawolf.

Following such success, major labels came calling. After much anticipation and speculation, Khalifa officially announced that he signed to Atlantic Records and would release Rolling Papers. His debut single “Black and Yellow” soared to the top of the Billboard Top 100 charts in 2011. Referring to his hometown’s NFL team colors, coupled with the fact that the Steelers made it to the Super Bowl that year, the single became a pop culture phenomenon as well as a Pittsburg Anthem.  In 2012, he followed up with O.N.I.F.C.. Both albums were highly acclaimed commercially and both debuted at Number 2 on the charts.

In 2013, amidst all his musical success, it was then that Khalifa became a husband to model/socialite Amber Rose. Soon after the birth of the couple’s first child, Khalifa announced his plans for his 5th studio release. “We Dem Boys” is the first single off Blacc Hollywood, which was released this past February. The full album is set to be released later this year featuring a highly anticipated collaboration with Miley Cyrus.

TEXT: Jenna Martin | PHOTO CREDIT: Hannibal Matthews