Artist: Wiz Khalifa
Album: Rolling Papers
Release Date: March 29
Label: Atlantic
Grade: C
There are few people that have had a quicker rise to fame than Wiz Khalifa. He has had a number-one single, been on the cover of numerous magazines, and headlined festivals – this all coming before he even released his first major-label album.
Khalifa has been gaining steam since he garnered national attention with "Black and Yellow." Unless you live in a remote section of the country, it was impossible to not have heard his single.
Unfortunately for Khalifa, his first major-label release, Rolling Papers, is nothing more than mediocre. If drinking champagne, smoking joints, or stealing somebody's girl isn't your thing, don't bother picking up this album.
With the potential that Khalifa showed on his numerous mixtapes, the bar was set high for Khalifa, but just like his Pittsburgh Steelers, this album fell short.
While Khalifa's flow is pretty good on the album; lyrically, the album is a travesty. The only thing that Khalifa seems to want to talk about is smoking weed and stealing people's girls.
This might be tolerable for a few songs, but after the sixth song that ultimately says the same thing, it's just annoying. You're rich and can afford a lot of weed; next point, please.
The beats are the saving grace for the album. The beats Rolling Papers sports are catchy and are bound to get the listener moving at least a little bit.
The end of the album does resurrect Rolling Papers. "Get Your Shit" is a nice change of pace from the rest of the album. Instead of stealing women, this song talks about the end of a relationship.
"Get Your Shit" is one of the few songs that has any sort of emotional investment from Khalifa. As he raps about love lost, the listener is able to connect with Khalifa for the first time on the album.
Other songs on the tail end of the album – like "Fly Solo" and the closing track, "Cameras" – provide diverse beats that are a nice contrast from the beginning of the disc.
While Khalifa has always been a big advocate of marijuana and having a good time, it is done superficially on Rolling Papers, and this causes his music to come across as shallow.
Khalifa is headlining Spring Fest April 30. Hopefully, his live show isn't nearly as disappointing as this album.
Email: arts@ubspectrum.com
