Wiz Khalifa

Cameron Jibril Thomaz (born September 8, 1987), better known by his stage name Wiz Khalifa, is an American rapper, singer and actor.

Cameron Jibril Thomaz was born on September 8, 1987, in Minot, North Dakota, to parents serving in the military.

His parents divorced when Khalifa was about three years old.

He was a military brat, frequently moving around with his parents' military service.

Khalifa lived in Germany, the United Kingdom, and Japan before settling in Pittsburgh with his mother around 1996, where he attended Taylor Allderdice High School.

Soon after moving to Pittsburgh, Khalifa began to write and perform his own lyrics before he was a teenager.

His stage name is derived from Khalifa, an Arabic word meaning "successor", and wisdom, which was shortened to Wiz when Khalifa was a young boy.

Khalifa stated to Spinner.com that the name also came from being called "young Wiz 'cause I was good at everything I did, and my granddad is Muslim, so he gave me that name; he felt like that's what I was doing with my music."

Rostrum Records president Benjy Grinberg first heard about Wiz Khalifa in 2004 when the rapper's contribution to a mixtape of various new Pittsburgh artists attracted his interest.

When Grinberg finally met the 16-year-old artist, he immediately decided he wanted to work with him, later telling HitQuarters: "Even though he wasn't all the way developed you could just tell that he was a diamond in the rough, and that with some polishing, guidance and backing he could become something special."

Khalifa signed to the label shortly after and began a seven-year period of artist development.

Khalifa released his first mixtape, Prince of the City: Welcome to Pistolvania, in 2005.

His debut studio album, Show and Prove (2006) was released through the local independent label Rostrum Records, and he signed with Warner Bros. Records the following year.

The mixtape paved the way for his first full-length album entitled Show and Prove in 2006.

Khalifa was declared an "artist to watch" that year in Rolling Stone magazine.

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.

His debut Warner Bros. single "Say Yeah" reached number 25 on the Billboard Rhythmic Top 40 music chart and number 20 on Billboard's Hot Rap Tracks.

The song samples "Better Off Alone" by Alice Deejay.

His Eurodance-influenced 2008 single, "Say Yeah" received urban radio airplay and entered the Rhythmic Top 40 and Hot Rap Tracks charts, becoming his first minor hit.

Thomaz founded the record label Taylor Gang Entertainment in 2008, through which he has signed artists including Juicy J, Ty Dolla Sign, and Berner.

Khalifa's vocals from "Say Yeah" appear near the end of Pittsburgh mashup producer Girl Talk's 2008 album, Feed the Animals, over music from Underworld's "Born Slippy", Usher's "Love in This Club", and the Cure's "In Between Days".

Khalifa appeared with The Game, David Banner, and Play-n-Skillz at U92's Summer Jam at the USANA Amphitheatre in West Valley City, Utah on August 2, 2008.

Khalifa released the mixtapes Star Power in September 2008, and Flight School in April 2009 on Rostrum Records.

Thomaz then parted ways with Warner Bros. and independently released his second album, Deal or No Deal (2009).

He released two further mixtapes until signing with Atlantic Records in July 2010.

He adopted an urban hip hop-influenced approach for his debut single for label, "Black and Yellow."

A tribute to his hometown of Pittsburgh, the song peaked atop the Billboard Hot 100 and received two Grammy Award nominations.

"Black and Yellow," along with the top 40-charting singles "Roll Up" and "No Sleep" preceded the release of his third album and major label debut, Rolling Papers (2011).

It was met with commercial success and peaked at number two on the Billboard 200, although critical response was mixed.

His fourth album, O.N.I.F.C. (2012) was met with similar critical and commercial reception, and supported by the singles "Work Hard, Play Hard" and "Remember You" (featuring the Weeknd).

Outside of music, Thomaz has delved into acting with television roles in Dickinson and The Eric Andre Show, the lead role alongside Snoop Dogg in the 2012 stoner comedy film Mac & Devin Go to High School, and voice roles in the animated series American Dad!, Duncanville, and Big City Greens.

His fifth album, Blacc Hollywood (2014) became his first to debut atop the Billboard 200, and was supported by the lead single "We Dem Boyz."

His 2015 single, "See You Again" (featuring Charlie Puth) was released for the soundtrack to the film Furious 7, in tribute to late actor Paul Walker.

The song peaked the Billboard Hot 100 for 12 non-consecutive weeks, received diamond (14× platinum) certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), earned three Grammy Award nominations, and remains Thomaz's most commercially successful release.

Known for his abundant usage of cannabis, Thomaz launched his own cannabis brand, Khalifa Kush in 2016, which was expanded to release in nationwide dispensaries in 2022.

He got a tattoo of his stage name on his 17th birthday.

By the age of 15, he was regularly recording his music at a local studio called I.D. Labs.

Impressed by the young teen's talent, E. Dan, the owner of the studio offered Khalifa an intern job at the studio in exchange for free recording time.

Dan, being a veteran of the Pittsburgh hip-hop scene, would help develop and mentor the young artist early on in his career.

His sixth album, Rolling Papers 2 (2018) matched its titular predecessor in chart position, and was supported by the sleeper hit single "Something New" (featuring Ty Dolla Sign).