Cameron Jibril Thomaz (born September 8, 1987),[2] known artistically asWiz Khalifa, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor. Raised inPittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he signed with the local independent labelRostrum Records to release his debut studio album,Show and Prove (2006). His contract entered a short-lived joint venture withWarner Bros. Records the following year. HisEurodance-influenced 2008 single, "Say Yeah" receivedurban radio airplay and entered both theRhythmic Top 40 andHot Rap Songs charts, becoming his first minor hit.[3]
Thomaz then parted ways with Warner Bros. and independently released his second album,Deal or No Deal (2009). He released two further mixtapes until signing withAtlantic Records in July 2010.[4] He adopted anurbanhip-hop-influenced approach for his debut single for the label, "Black and Yellow." A tribute to his hometown of Pittsburgh, the song peaked atop theBillboard Hot 100 and received twoGrammy Award nominations. Two of his follow-up singles, "Roll Up" and "No Sleep", peaked within the top 40 of the chart; all three preceded the release of his third album andmajor label debut,Rolling Papers (2011). Despite mixed critical reception, the album peaked at number two on theBillboard 200.[5]
His stage name is derived fromKhalifa, anArabic word meaning "successor", andwisdom, which was shortened to Wiz when Khalifa was a young boy.[12] Khalifa stated toSpinner.com that the name also came from being called "young Wiz 'cause I was good at everything I did, and my granddad isMuslim, 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.[13][14]
By the age of 15, he was regularly recording his music at a local studio calledI.D. Labs.[15] 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.[16][15]
Career
2005–2008: Early mixtapes andShow 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.[17] When Grinberg finally met the 16-year-old artist, he immediately decided he wanted to work with him, later tellingHitQuarters: "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.[17] Khalifa released his firstmixtape,Prince of the City: Welcome to Pistolvania, in early 2006. The mixtape paved the way for his first full-length album entitledShow and Prove later that year. Khalifa was declared an "artist to watch" that year inRolling Stone magazine.[18][19]
Khalifa parted ways withWarner Bros. Records in July 2009 after numerous delays in releasing his planned debut album for the label,First Flight. Khalifa stated to thePittsburgh 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".[22] Khalifa appeared with Girl Talk,Modey Lemon,Donora,Grand Buffet, andDon Caballero at theAmphitheatre at Station Square in Pittsburgh on July 31, 2009, where he announced that his relationship with Warner Bros. was over.[23]
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 mixtapeHow Fly, a collaboration with New Orleans rapperCurren$y, on August 9, 2009.[22] Khalifa introduced a more melodic style on the mixtape, alternating between singing and rapping. He opened forWu-Tang Clan memberU-God at the 2009CMJ Music Marathon in New York City. Khalifa released the mixtapeBurn After Rolling on November 2, 2009, where he raps over familiar beats from other artists, including the songs "If I Were a Boy" and "Diva" byBeyoncé, "Walking on a Dream" byEmpire of the Sun, "Luchini AKA This Is It" byCamp Lo, and "Best I Ever Had" byDrake.[24] Khalifa released his second album,Deal or No Deal, on November 24, 2009.[25]
Khalifa performed atEmo's inAustin, Texas in March 2010, as part of the 2010South by Southwest Music Festival.[26] He appeared on the cover ofXXL magazine that same month, for the magazine's annual list of Top 10 Freshman, which includedDonnis,J. Cole,Pill,Freddie Gibbs, andFashawn. Wiz Khalifa was named 2010 "Rookie Of The Year" by "The Source", with alongside Rick Ross, "The Man Of The Year".[27] He toured with rapperYelawolf on a 20-date tour, the Deal Or No Deal Tour.[28] Khalifa released the free mixtapeKush and Orange Juice for download on April 14, 2010. Due to Khalifa's devoted grassroots fan base, the mixtape became the No. 1trending topic on Twitter with thehash tag #kushandorangejuice, and "Kush and Orange Juice download" ranked No. 1 onGoogle's hot search trends.[29]
Citing music industry insiders,New York magazine wrote that Khalifa signed withAtlantic Records in April 2010, although the rapper did not confirm it.[30] He stated toAllHipHop in June 2010 that he was working on a new album, but was weighing his options and had not yet decided on a label to distribute it. Khalifa confirmed to MTV on July 30 that he was signing an Atlantic Records deal.[31]
Khalifa was featured in a remix and video for the 2010Rick Ross single "Super High", alongsideCurren$y.[32] He guested on the mixtapeGrey Goose, Head Phones, and Thirsty Women bySt. Louis rapper M.C.,[33] and was featured on the track "The Breeze (Cool)" on rapperWale's August 2010 mixtapeMore About Nothing.[34] Khalifa was named MTV's Hottest Breakthrough MC of 2010, winning with nearly 70,000 votes, and beating out finalistsNicki Minaj,J. Cole,Travis Porter, andDiggy Simmons.[35]
The tour, scheduled to last from September to November 2010, sold out every venue. In November 2010, during his "Waken Baken" tour at East Carolina University, Khalifa was arrested for possession and trafficking of marijuana. He was released the next morning after a $300K bail, and resumed his tour. Khalifa performed in a cypher during the 2010BET Hip-Hop Awards.[citation needed]
Khalifa released "Black and Yellow", his first single for Rostrum/Atlantic, produced byStargate, which has received radio airplay.[39] The single peaked at number one on the USBillboard Hot 100; the title of the song refers to the colors of the city of Pittsburgh.[40] Khalifa released his debut album with Atlantic Records in 2011.[41] He appeared with Curren$y on the track "Scaling the Building" on producerSki Beatz' 2010 album,24 Hour Karate School.[42]
On March 29, 2011, Khalifa released his first studio album,Rolling Papers in the US.[43] The album debuted at number two on the USBillboard 200 chart, with first-week sales of 197,000 copies in the United States.[44] On March 31, 2011, Khalifa performed atEmory University in Atlanta, Georgia as part of the school's annual Dooley's Weekend. On June 26, 2011, Khalifa was nominated and won Best New Artist at theBET Awards of 2011.[45]
Khalifa collaborated with British rapperTinie Tempah. Tinie announced in an interview withRolling Stone that his next single was to be called "Till I'm Gone" and would feature Wiz Khalifa and was produced byStargate.[46] The single and the video song were released at the end of June 2011.[47]
On April 11, 2012, Khalifa announced that he would release his second studio album titledOnly Nigga In First Class but that it would be abbreviated asO.N.I.F.C. for release to mainstream markets.[19][48][49]O.N.I.F.C. debuted at number two with 131,000 in first week sales.[50] The album spawned two singles "Work Hard, Play Hard" and "Remember You" both receiving good commercial acclaim and the former going platinum. Wiz spoke with rapper50 Cent, with whom he collaborated on the song "Telescope", about making a movie together.[51] Also in 2012,Maroon 5 released their single "Payphone" featuring Khalifa, the lead single to their albumOverexposed.[52]
2013–present:Blacc Hollywood, "See You Again" andRolling Papers 2
In April 2013, Khalifa revealed that after having his son he decided to work on a new album that he was planning to release in 2013.[53] On April 17, 2013, Wiz Khalifa and Curren$y announced that they would drop their collaborationEPLive in Concert on April 20, 2013. The EP featured seven new songs.[54] On June 24, 2013, he announced that his fifth studio album would be titledBlacc Hollywood and would be released in 2013.[55] On September 3, 2013, Khalifa revealed he had recorded songs withMiley Cyrus andJuicy J forBlacc Hollywood.[56] In October 2013,Mannie Fresh confirmed that he provided production for the album.[57]
After releasing several "Weedmixes" onSoundCloud, including "Ziplocc"[59] and "Maan!",[60] Wiz took to Twitter to create hype about his new mixtape,28 Grams, which was due to be released on May 25, 2014. However, Wiz was arrested in El Paso, Texas for marijuana possession the day before, and there were fears that the mixtape would be pushed back. After posting a "jail selfie" andhashtagging "FreeTrapWiz" on Twitter, he was released hours later, meaning the mixtape would go ahead with its intended release date.
On January 23, 2015, Khalifa was featured on a remix release of theFall Out Boy song "Uma Thurman". On May 18, they performed the song together on the 2015Billboard Music Awards show.[61] In the summer of 2015, he began touring the United States with Fall Out Boy andHoodie Allen in a tour titled "The Boys of Zummer Tour".[62][63][64][65] The tour featured performances of "Uma Thurman" by Fall Out Boy and Khalifa. Later that year, on December 15, 2015, Wiz released the mixtape "Cabin Fever 3". During the Golden Globes on January 10, 2016, Wiz announced that his next album, titledKhalifa, would be released on the 22nd of that month.[66] However, the album was released on February 5, 2016. On May 24, 2016, he released "Pull Up", a standalone single in promotion of his sixth album, Rolling Papers 2, which was released on July 13, 2018.[67]
In 2016, Khalifa sued former manager Benjy Grinberg andRostrum Records because of a "360 deal" that he signed which he claimed was unfair.[68] Khalifa is seeking $1 million in compensation as well as punitive damages and attorney fees. He and Grinberg split after 10 years of partnership.[68]
In 2018, he released the song "Hot Now", which created controversy due to the line "smoke got my eyes lookin' Korean", which some found to be racially insensitive. He responded with "chill out, I’m not racist. I love all races... I have Korean friends who are not offended."[69]
On April 20, 2020, Khalifa released a new EP, The Saga of Wiz Khalifa. The album included collaborations withTyga,Logic,Mustard, andTy Dolla $ign.[70]
In May 2020, Khalifa featured on a new song,Drums Drums Drums withTravis Barker.[71]
In 2023, Wiz Khalifa released four mixtapes: Star Power, See Ya, Khali Sober, and Decisions.[72]
Personal life
Khalifa began dating modelAmber Rose in early 2011. They got engaged on March 1, 2012,[73][74] and married on July 8, 2013.[75] They have one son, born in 2013.[76] On September 24, 2014, it was announced that Rose would be filing for divorce, citingirreconcilable differences.[77] As of 2015, Khalifa and Rose havejoint custody of their son.[78]
On June 16, 2024, Khalifa announced that he and his girlfriend of five years, Aimee Aguilar, are expecting their first child together, a daughter.[79]
Khalifa is open about his use ofcannabis, and he has claimed in many interviews that he spends $10,000 a month on cannabis, and also smokes daily.[80] As of early 2014, Khalifa no longer pays for cannabis and is sponsored by The Cookie Company, a medical marijuana dispensary which sells his "Khalifa Kush" (KK) strain, which he partnered with RiverRock Cannabis to create.[81][82]
Khalifa began training in the martial artBrazilian jiu-jitsu in May 2017 withRigan Machado, an 8th degree red and black belt.[83][84] Shortly after, he began training inMuay Thai with formerUFC bantamweight title contenderCat Zingano and at the Unbreakable Performance Center in Los Angeles.[85][86]
On April 24, 2018,Yokkao hosted a private Muay Thai seminar with Thai boxing legendSaenchai for Khalifa at Unbreakable.[87][88]
In April 2023, it was announced that Khalifa would be taking on his first BJJ match against an unconfirmed opponent under the High Rollerz ruleset.[89]
In July 2024, Khalifa was arrested inRomania for illegal drug possession following an incident where he smoked cannabis onstage during a concert.[90]
