Cameron Jibril Thomaz grew up in a military family and was born on September 8, 1987. His parents were separated when he was three and he relocated from one place to another because of their military service. He eventually settled in Pittsburgh from Germany, England and Japan, and completed high school in that province. When he first attempted music with his fingertips, his stage name was Wisdom Khalifa. The latter term is derived from Arabic, which indicates accomplishment. He simplified ‘Wisdom’ to Wiz later on.
It was time to either sink or float, straight out of secondary school. In 2005, his first mixtape, Prince of the City: Welcome to Pistolvania, was released by Wiz Khalifa. The local scene soon embraced the mixtape and started gaining buzz outside of Pittsburgh. It was the right moment for a proper commercial album, with the enthusiasm rising by the day. “Show and Prove” was quickly dumped by Wiz, who Okayplayer.com said was “arguably the best album of the year.” The accolades continued to mount up and Khalifa got major co-signs from both XXL, Rolling Stone and VIBE. A bargain for Warner Bros. Soon there followed documents.
A year later, a studio album named “Show and Prove” was scrapped. On the Rhythmic Top 40 and Billboard Hot Rap Songs rankings, their eurodance-influenced hit “Say Yeah” charted. He was declared “Artist to Watch” by Rolling Stone magazine that year because of the well-performed single and his growing success. However, he broke ways with Warner Bros., yet another giant recording label, Atlantic Records, signed him easily.
In November 2009, “Deal or No Deal” followed, peaking at No. 25 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums list and cracking the iTunes Top 10 chart in the first week of publication. He started to shine in 2010 as he was named MTV’s No. 1 Hottest Breakout MC of the Year and after giving away a street album “Kush and Orange Juice” became a trending subject on Twitter and a hot search trend on Google.
A new song “Black and Yellow” was launched by Wiz in 2010, which finally hit No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100. “The track serves as the lead single of his third studio album “Rolling Papers in the US, which was released in March 2011. It debuted on the Billboard 200 chart at number two, with 197,000 units sold for the first week. He followed the LP a year later with “Only N***a in First Class” (abbreviated as O.N.I.F.C.). Debuting at No. 2 with 131,000, two songs “Work Hard, Play Hard” and “Remember Yo Hard” were made.
Wiz revealed his intention to work on a follow-up named “O.N.I.F.C.” only a few months after “Blacc Hollywood” hit the shelves. The latest LP, featuring cameo appearances from Juicy J, Snoop Dogg, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj and Jeezy, is set to be launched on August 19. “We Dem Boyz” “KK” “You and Your Friends” “Stayin Out All Night” “Promises” and “So High” have so far spawned.
The album debuted at No. 1 on Billboard 200, and he revealed in early 2015 that he will co-headline a summer tour with Fall Out Boy to promote it. Wiz also launched an EP, “Talk About It in the Morning” with fellow Taylor Gang rapper Ty Dolla $ign, on March 31.
About the same moment, Wiz released new songs that he composed and produced for the “Furious 7” soundtrack. Before releasing “Go Hard or Go Home” featuring Charlie Puth, he first premiered a collaboration with Iggy Azalea named “See You Again”