Wiz Khalifa

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Wiz Khalifa
Birth name	Cameron Jibril Thomaz
Also known as	The Prince of Pistolvania
Born	1987 Minot, North Dakota, U.S.
Origin	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Genre(s)	Rap, hip hop
Years active	2003–present
Label(s)	Rostrum / Warner Bros.
Associated acts	The Govament, S. Money
Website	www.wizkhalifa.com

Cameron Jibril Thomaz (born 1987), better known by the stage name Wiz Khalifa, is an American rapper based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

1 Biography
- 1.1 Early life
- 1.2 Career
2 Discography
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Khalifa was born in Minot, North Dakota to a mother and a father serving in the military. He lived in Altus, Oklahoma and attended Altus Junior High School.^{[citation needed]} The family moved to Pittsburgh when Khalifa was the age of two. His parents' military service caused the family to move on a regular basis. Over the next decade, Khalifa lived in the U.S., Germany, England, and Japan. He graduated from Taylor Allderdice High School in 2006. Khalifa has been influenced by artists such as Jay-Z, Cam'ron, and the Notorious B.I.G. His stage name is derived from Khalifa, an Arabic word meaning "successor", and Wisdom, which was shortened to Wiz when Khalifa was 15.^[1]

[edit] Career

Khalifa released his first mixtape, Prince of the City: Welcome to Pistolvania, in 2005. The mixtape recorded sales in the thousands, leading to his first full length album entitled Show and Prove in 2006. Khalifa was declared an "artist to watch" that year in Rolling Stone magazine. Khalifa has shared the stage with popular artists like Ghostface Killah, Styles P, Lupe Fiasco, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Cham, Little Brother, Clipse, Lil Wayne, Young Jeezy, Lil Scrappy, Mario, T.I., Nas, and Rich Boy. After bringing home “Best Male Artist” and "Lyricist Of The Year” at the 1st annual Pittsburgh Hip Hop awards, Khalifa premiered his debut video "Pittsburgh Sound", broadcast over the internet through various hip-hop fan sites. Khalifa uses, but did not coin, the nickname Pistolvania for Pennsylvania.

In 2007, Khalifa signed to Warner Bros. Records and released two mixtapes through Rostrum Records: Grow Season, hosted by DJ Green Lantern and released on July 4, 2007, and Prince of the City 2, released on November 20, 2007. In 2008, he will release his Warner Bros. debut album as well as a mixtape with Kev Tha Hustler entitled The Prince & Tha Hustler.^[2] His debut Warner Bros. single "Say Yeah" reached number 32 on the Rhythmic Top 40 music chart. The song samples the 1999 single "Better Off Alone" by the Dutch electronic group Alice Deejay.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

Show and Prove (2006), Rostrum - debut album

[edit] Mixtapes

Prince of the City: Welcome to Pistolvania (2005), Rostrum - debut mixtape
Grow Season (2007), Rostrum
Prince of the City 2 (2007), Rostrum - released November 20, 2007

[edit] Singles

"Oh No" (2006), mixtape single
"Damn Thing" (2006), Rostrum - debut single
"All In My Blood (Pittsburgh Sound)" (2007), Rostrum - released August 7, 2007
"Talk To me (T-Pain Remix)" (2007), Radio Remix
"Youngin' on his Grind" (2007), Rostrum - released September 11, 2007
"Say Yeah" (2008) Rostrum - released January 7, 2008
"Say Yeah" (remix ft. Lil Wayne, Jody Breeze, Arok) (2008) - released April 2008