Wiz Khalifa

Cameron Jibril Thomaz (born September 8, 1987), better known by his stage name Wiz Khalifa, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor. He released his debut album, ''Show and Prove'', in 2006 and signed to Warner Bros. Records in 2007. His Eurodance-influenced single " Say Yeah" received urban radio airplay, charting on the Rhythmic Top 40 and Hot Rap Tracks charts in 2008, becoming his first minor hit.

Thomaz parted with Warner Bros. and released his second album, ''Deal or No Deal'', in November 2009. He released the mixtape '' Kush and Orange Juice'' as a free download in April 2010; he then signed with Atlantic Records. Thomaz then adopted a more radio-friendly, pop-oriented approach with his debut single for Atlantic, " Black and Yellow". The song, a tribute to his hometown of Pittsburgh, debuted at number 100 and eventually peaked at number 1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The song became the lead single for his third album ''Rolling Papers'', which was released in March 2011, and also had the Top 40 singles " Roll Up" and " No Sleep".

The album's success was followed up with ''O.N.I.F.C.'' in December 2012, which was backed by the singles " Work Hard, Play Hard" and " Remember You" (featuring the Weeknd). Wiz released his fifth album '' Blacc Hollywood'' in August 2014, backed by the lead single "We Dem Boyz". In March 2015, he released " See You Again" (featuring Charlie Puth) for the soundtrack of the film '' Furious 7'' and the song peaked at number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for 12 non-consecutive weeks.

Early life

Khalifa was born Cameron Jibril Thomaz on September 8, 1987, in Minot, North Dakota, to parents serving in the military.Cordor, Cyril. "Wiz Khalifa. Allmusic. Retrieved on June 23, 2008. His parents divorced when Khalifa was about three years old. He is a military brat with his parents' military service causing him to move regularly. Khalifa lived in Germany, the United Kingdom, and Japan before settling in Pittsburgh with his mother in around 1996 where he attended Taylor Allderdice High School. Soon after moving to Pittsburgh, Khalifa began to write and perform his own lyrics before he was a teenager.

His stage name is derived from Khalifa, an Arabic word meaning "successor", and wisdom, which was shortened to Wiz when Khalifa was a young boy. Khalifa stated to Spinner.com that the name also came from being called "young Wiz 'cause I was good at everything I did, and my granddad is Muslim, so he gave me that name; he felt like that's what I was doing with my music." He got a tattoo of his stage name on his 17th birthday.

By the age of 15, he was regularly recording his music at a local studio called I.D. Labs. Impressed by the young teen's talent, E. Dan, the owner of the studio offered Khalifa an intern job at the studio in exchange for free recording time. Dan, being a veteran of the Pittsburgh hip-hop scene, would help develop and mentor the young artist early on in his career.

Career

2005–2008: Early mixtapes and ''Show and Prove''

Rostrum Records president Benjy Grinberg first heard about Wiz Khalifa in 2004 when the rapper's contribution to a mixtape of various new Pittsburgh artists attracted his interest. When Grinberg finally met the 16-year-old artist, he immediately decided he wanted to work with him, later telling HitQuarters: "Even though he wasn't all the way developed you could just tell that he was a diamond in the rough, and that with some polishing, guidance and backing he could become something special." Khalifa signed to the label shortly after and began a seven-year period of artist development. Khalifa released his first mixtape, ''Prince of the City: Welcome to Pistolvania'', in 2005. The mixtape paved the way for his first full-length album entitled ''Show and Prove'' in 2006. Khalifa was declared an "artist to watch" that year in ''Rolling Stone'' magazine.

In 2007, Khalifa signed to Warner Bros. Records and released two mixtapes through Rostrum Records: ''Grow Season'', hosted by DJ Green Lantern and released on July 4, 2007, and ''Prince of the City 2'', released on November 20, 2007. His debut Warner Bros. single " Say Yeah" reached number 25 on the ''Billboard'' Rhythmic Top 40 music chart and number 20 on ''Billboard's'' Hot Rap Tracks. The song samples " Better Off Alone" by Alice Deejay. Khalifa's vocals from "Say Yeah" appear near the end of Pittsburgh mashup producer Girl Talk's 2008 album, '' Feed the Animals'', over music from Underworld's " Born Slippy", Usher's " Love in This Club", and the Cure's " In Between Days". Khalifa appeared with The Game, David Banner and Play-n-Skillz at U92's Summer Jam at the USANA Amphitheatre in West Valley City, Utah on August 2, 2008. Khalifa released the mixtapes ''Star Power'' in September 2008, and '' Flight School'' in April 2009 on Rostrum Records.

Khalifa parted ways with Warner Bros. Records in July 2009 after numerous delays in releasing his planned debut album for the label, ''First Flight''. Khalifa stated to the ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'' that, "I learned a lot during my time there and matured as an artist during the process. I'm happy to be moving on with all of my material and having the chance to be in control of my next moves". Khalifa appeared with Girl Talk, Modey Lemon, Donora, Grand Buffet, and Don Caballero at the Amphitheatre at Station Square in Pittsburgh on July 31, 2009, where he announced that his relationship with Warner Bros. was over.

2009–2010: ''Deal or No Deal'' and signing with Atlantic Records

Continuing his association with Rostrum Records, Khalifa released the single "Teach U to Fly", and the mixtape ''How Fly'', a collaboration with New Orleans rapper Curren$y, on August 9, 2009.Mervis, Scott (July 18, 2009).
Wiz Khalifa, Warner Bros. part ways
. ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette''. Retrieved on July 18, 2009. Khalifa introduced a more melodic style on the mixtape, alternating between singing and rapping. He opened for Wu-Tang Clan member U-God at the 2009 CMJ Music Marathon in New York City. Khalifa released the mixtape ''Burn After Rolling'' on November 2, 2009, where he raps over familiar beats from other artists, including the songs " If I Were A Boy" and " Diva" by Beyoncé, " Walking on a Dream" by Empire of the Sun, " Luchini AKA This Is It" by Camp Lo, and " Best I Ever Had" by Drake.McCray, Mike (November 3, 2009).
Mixtape Review: Wiz Khalifa
. '' Creative Loafing Charlotte''; retrieved November 8, 2009. Khalifa released his second album, ''Deal or No Deal'', on November 24, 2009.

Khalifa performed at Emo's in Austin, Texas in March 2010 as part of the 2010 South by Southwest Music Festival. He appeared on the cover of '' XXL'' magazine that same month, for the magazine's annual list of Top 10 Freshman, which included Donnis, J. Cole, Pill, Freddie Gibbs, and Fashawn. Wiz Khalifa was named 2010 "Rookie Of The Year" by "The Source", with alongside Rick Ross, "The Man Of The Year". He toured with rapper Yelawolf on a 20-date tour, the Deal Or No Deal Tour. Khalifa released the free mixtape '' Kush and Orange Juice'' for download on June 14, 2010. Due to Khalifa's devoted grassroots fan base, the mixtape became the No. 1 trending topic on Twitter with the hash tag #kushandorangejuice, and "Kush and Orange Juice download" ranked No. 1 on Google's hot search trends.

Citing music industry insiders, ''New York'' magazine wrote that Khalifa signed with Atlantic Records in April 2010, although the rapper did not confirm it. He stated to AllHipHop in June 2010 that he was working on a new album, but was weighing his options and had not yet decided on a label to distribute it. Khalifa confirmed to MTV on July 30 that he was signing an Atlantic Records deal.

Khalifa was featured in a remix and video for the 2010 Rick Ross single "Super High", alongside Curren$y. He guested on the mixtape ''Grey Goose, Head Phones, and Thirsty Women '' by St. Louis rapper M.C, and was featured on the track "The Breeze (Cool)" on rapper Wale's August 2010 mixtape '' More About Nothing''. Khalifa was named MTV's Hottest Breakthrough MC of 2010, winning with nearly 70,000 votes, and beating out finalists Nicki Minaj, J. Cole, Travis Porter, and Diggy Simmons.

Khalifa appeared at the Soundset 2010 festival in May 2010 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, alongside Method Man & Redman, Del the Funky Homosapien and Hieroglyphics, Atmosphere, Murs, Cage, and others. He performed at the 2010 Rock the Bells festival, along with hip hop veterans Wu-Tang Clan, Snoop Dogg, Lauryn Hill, A Tribe Called Quest

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