Wiz Khalifa in Charleston

By Marielle Hartmann

Pittsburgh-born rapper, Wiz Khalifa, performed on Friday night, June 18^th, to a sold out crowd close to 1,000 people. With his techno beats and catchy lyrics, The Wiz, or Cameron Jibril Thomaz, is well on his way to Hip Hop fame.

It’s 10:30 PM Friday night, and Wiz Khalifa walks in backstage, sunglasses on, hat tipped low over his brow, covered in tattoos, and with an entourage of 10 people. Opening for him are Yelawolf, Infinity the Ghettochild, Dow Jones, and Righchus.

This show is only one out of dozens that he has performed this year on his Deal or No Deal tour for his second album released in November 2009. After his stay in Charleston, he is continuing on to cities in North Carolina, Wisconsin, California, New York, and Maryland, which are all predicted to sell out as well. He has toured with other well known rappers such as Atmosphere, Method Man, Red Man, J. Cole, and the Wu Tang Clan.

After bursting onto the music scene in 2006, Wiz Khalifa was honored by Rolling Stone magazine in 2007 as the “new artist to watch”, and his Deal or No Deal album quickly soared to the number one spot on the iTunes Hip Hop chart the day it came out.

With such song titles as “Sky High”, “Weed Roller”, “Still Blazin”, and “Burn after Rolling”, it was easy to understand why he draws a young, diverse crowd, and why the room had a certain distinguishing smell.

While he’s not one of the first to incorporate marijuana into his raps, he definitely brings a certain distinguishable sound and delivery that makes him different from fellow rappers such as Kid Cudi. “His raps aren’t heavy material. If you look up his lyrics you can see that they are personal, but his message is lighthearted and fun. He’s always entertaining and it’s all about how he raps. His tone, speed, and passion. Some are really slow, like ‘Mezmorized’. I would say the thing that makes you remember his stuff is the crazy techno beat he’ll put behind it. It just brings a whole new feel to his messages,” says an avid fan and attendant of the Music Farm show.

As he rapped about fame, money, success, marijuana, Pittsburgh life and partying, everyone was rapping right along with him, arms and lighters raised. The concert was definitely a success and Wiz Khalifa is probably one of the best new rappers around alongside Kid Cudi, Wale, and Drake. The music world should get ready because Wiz Khalifa has only just started.