Cameron Jibril Thomaz who was born
on September 8, 1987 grew up in a
military family. When he was three,
his parents got divorce and he
moved from one place to another
due to their military service. From
Germany, England, and Japan, he
finally settled in Pittsburgh and
finished high school in that state.
When first trying his hands on music,
his stage name was Wisdom Khalifa.
The latter word was derived from
Arabic which means success. He later
shortened 'Wisdom' to Wiz.
Fresh out of high school, it was time
to either sink or swim. In 2005, Wiz
Khalifa released his first mixtape,
"Prince of the City: Welcome to
Pistolvania." The mixtape was
quickly accepted by the local scene
and began to gain buzz outside of
Pittsburgh. With that excitement
growing by the day, it was the
perfect time for a proper commercial
album. Wiz soon dropped "Show and
Prove," which Okayplayer.com
claimed was "arguably the best
album of the year." The accolades
began piling up and Khalifa was
receiving significant co-signs from
XXL, Rolling Stone, and VIBE, alike. A
deal with Warner Bros. Records soon
followed.
A year later, he dropped a studio
album "Show and Prove". Its ...
eurodance-influenced single "Say
Yeah" charted on the Rhythmic Top
40 and Billboard Hot Rap Songs
charts. Due to the well-performed
single and his increasing popularity,
he was declared "Artist to Watch" by
Rolling Stone magazine that year.
He, however, parted ways with
Warner Bros. but was quickly signed
by another giant recording company,
Atlantic Records.
" Deal or No Deal" followed in
November 2009, peaking at No. 25 on
Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
chart and breaking the Top 10 of
iTunes chart in its first week of
release. He continued to shine in
2010 when he was named MTV's No. 1
Hottest Breakthrough MC of the Year
and became trending topic on
Twitter and hot search trend on
Google after giving away a street
album "Kush and Orange Juice".
A third studio album which is yet-to-
be-titled is in the works and might
be released in 2011. As a teaser, its
lead single "Black and Yellow" was
rolled out in September 2010. It
marked his highest-charting track,
peaking at No. 11 on Billboard Hot
100. Also, it climbed to No. 10 on R&B/
Hip-Hop and No. 5 on Rap Songs
charts.
No comments:
Post a Comment