Wiz Khalifa

Cameron Jibril Thomaz (born September 8, 1987), better known by his stage name Wiz Khalifa, is an American rapper. He released his debut album, *Show and Prove*, in 2006 and signed to Warner Bros. Records in 2007. His Eurodance-influenced single "Say Yeah" received urban radio airplay, charting on the Rhythmic Top 40 and Hot Rap Tracks charts in 2008, becoming his first minor hit.

Thomaz parted ways with Warner Bros. and released his second album, *Deal or No Deal*, independently in November 2009. He released the mixtape *Kush and Orange Juice* as a free download in April 2010; he then signed with Atlantic Records. Thomaz then adopted an urban hip hop-influenced approach with his debut single for Atlantic, "Black and Yellow". The song, a tribute to his hometown of Pittsburgh, debuted at number 100 and eventually reached number 1 on the *Billboard* Hot 100, also earning him two Grammy Award nominations. "Black and Yellow" became the lead single for his third album *Rolling Papers*, which was released in March 2011, and also contained the Top 40 singles "Roll Up" and "No Sleep".

The album's success was followed up with *O.N.I.F.C.* in December 2012, which was backed by the singles "Work Hard, Play Hard" and "Remember You" (featuring the Weeknd). Thomaz released his fifth album *Blacc Hollywood* in August 2014; it became his first album peak atop the *Billboard* 200 and was preceded by the lead single "We Dem Boyz". In March 2015, he released "See You Again" (featuring Charlie Puth) for the soundtrack of the film *Furious 7* and the song peaked the *Billboard* Hot 100 for 12 non-consecutive weeks.

Outside of music, Thomaz has acted in television series such as *Punk'd*, *Dickinson*, and *The Eric Andre Show*, as well as having voice roles in animated series such as *American Dad!*, *Duncanville*, and *Big City Greens*. He has also founded the company Taylor Gang Entertainment in 2008, a record label that has signed artists such as Juicy J, Ty Dolla Sign, and Berner, among others. Known for his abundant usage of cannabis, Thomaz released his own cannabis brand, Khalifa Kush, in 2016, which expanded to release in nationwide dispensaries in 2022.

**Early Life**

Khalifa was born Cameron Jibril Thomaz 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 in 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." 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.