Khalifa (album)

Khalifa
Studio album by Wiz Khalifa
Released	February 5, 2016
Genre	Hip hop
Length	51:28
Label	Taylor Gang Rostrum Atlantic
Producer	I.D. Labs Crazy Mike DJ Spinz Finatik N Zac Jim Jonsin Juicy J Knucklehead Lex Luger Ricky P Ritz Reynolds SAP Sayez Shod Beatz Sledgren TM88
Wiz Khalifa chronology
Blacc Hollywood (2014) Khalifa (2016) Rolling Papers 2: The Weed Album (2016)
Singles from Khalifa
"Bake Sale" Released: January 21, 2016 [1]

Khalifa is the sixth studio album by American rapper Wiz Khalifa. It was released on February 5, 2016, by Atlantic Records, Rostrum Records and Taylor Gang Records.^[2] It is his first album of original material since Blacc Hollywood (2014). The album features guest appearances from Travi$ Scott, Ty Dolla $ign, Rico Love, Courtney Noelle, Juicy J, Chevy Woods, J.R Donato and his son Sebastian.

The album was supported by the lead single "Bake Sale" featuring Travi$ Scott.^[3][4]

Singles

The album's lead single, "Bake Sale" featuring Travis Scott, was released for purchase and streaming on January 21, 2016. It was produced by TM88, Juicy J, Lex Luger, DJ Spinz and Crazy Mike. In December 2015, Wiz Khalifa previewed the track and then announced that it would be included on his album Khalifa.^[5] The instrumental for the song originally appeared in the song "Order More" by G-Eazy, included on his album When It's Dark Out (2015). Due to ownership issues, Juicy J recreated the beat on the song for Wiz Khalifa, along with the co-producers. On the chart dated on February 13, it debuted and peaked at number 56 on the US Billboard Hot 100.^[6][7]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	54/100[8]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[9]
Billboard	[10]
Pitchfork	5.1/10[11]
Rolling Stone	[12]
Spin	4/10[13]
XXL	3/5 (L)[14]

Upon its release, Khalifa was met with generally mixed reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 54, which indicates "mixed or average reviews", based on 6 reviews so far.^[8] Chris Gibbons of Exclaim! said, "Khalifa likely won't sway opinion of Wiz Khalifa, whether positive or negative. For better or worse, it's a portrait of the rapper we've seen for years. It does do things a little more consistently and adds a little more detail than what we're used to seeing."^[15] Kris Ex of Billboard stated, "On Khalifa, he's characteristically mellow and melodic, mixing rhymes that are part equal parts braggadocio and motivational slogans in an almost singular pursuit of highs and riches. By design, none of the songs stand out, save for the Travis Scott featuring "Bake Sale," which wins mostly by sounding like an aired-out version of Scott's own hit "Antidote."^[16] David Jeffries of AllMusic questioned the exclusion of "See You Again" and said, "These expansive cuts surely benefit the Wiz discography, and will do best when shuffled into his canon, but lump them together into one LP and take away the driving influence and Khalifa feels more like part of a continuum than a self-contained statement."^[9]

Commercial performance

Khalifa debuted at number 6 on the US Billboard 200 and number 3 on the Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts, selling 71,323 units in its first week of release.^[17][18] This marks as the lowest debut of Khalifa's career, mostly due to the low promotional efforts for the album.

Track listing

Charts

Release history

References