Texan Mosaic

by DOMINICK PUENTE/Staff Writer

One of the biggest rappers in modern music, Wiz Khalifa recently released his sixth album which has gained a lot of attention for his music genius and lyrical song writing.

Khalifa released his new album in early February to start off the new year strong. It features artists such as Chevy Woods, Ty Dolla Sign, Juicy J, Travis Scott, J.R. Donato, Rico Love and Courtney Noelle. Although there are a few big-name artists associated with Khalifa’s project, he involves newer artists such as Donato and Woods, who often tour with Khalifa and have been a part of many other musical projects.

The 13-song album contains relatively explicit material about the sexual encounters and his involvement with cannabis. His music has received a lot of criticism throughout his music career. However, Khalifa continues to gain positive recognition for his music, along with prestigious awards and honors. Though he has gained a lot of recognition for his previous projects, the new album, “Khalifa,” received little recognition from music critics and other big rap artists due to the lack of promotional efforts for the album.

However, the project moved to number six on the Billboard 200 in the first week of its debut. The project sold 64,000 albums in the first week, which was the lowest debut in Khalifa’s career by 500,000 albums.

He kicked off his album with an early single, “Bake Sale,” featuring Travis Scott. Although many people found the song to be catchy and appealing, there seemed to be a similarity to a previous song Scott had in his first big album called Antidote. There were many accusations that the beats in the song were an exact match to Khalifa’s new single. However, neither Scott nor Khalifa agreed with the skepticism from the music world.

Though the album did not create a lot of buzz in the mainstream world of hip-hop/rap, the project gained a lot of attention in the underground scene of the music industry. The album is an excellent fit for fans of a softer and slower rap genre. Khalifa adds a sense of his own type of singing in a few of the songs in the album that gives his music a different attitude. The slow-moving beats give the listener a smooth, mellow sound that gives off a more relaxing feeling than a club-oriented theme.

Throughout the album, Khalifa brought his love for cannabis into his music, with songs such as “No Permission,” “Lit” and “Elevated.” He is notorious for expressing his love and desire for marijuana in the majority of his songs, music videos and interviews. The songs proved to be for a younger generation that finds the use of marijuana to be no problem. In multiple songs, including “Lit,” Khalifa explains his lifestyle with cannabis and his lack of caring about his public image with the older generation, explaining that change is good.

Although many adults are against Khalifa’s music for his pro-drug attitude, music is an art for people to express what they feel. Even if certain people are against the legalization of marijuana, music lovers cannot judge a person based on what the artist feels.

Khalifa has reached out to a younger audience that has asked for a change, along with Khalifa. I feel that his music is better than most hip-hop/rap songs that are out in this era of music. This album shows how an artist puts out music for his fans because they share the same feelings about topics he puts in his songs.

In addition to the attitude toward cannabis, he also includes his love for his family and the struggles he went through in his life. Having strong things to sing and rap about, such as adversity in Khalifa’s life and his family, seems to give his songs a better meaning. He does a fantastic job of including his tribulations in life instead of the normal hip-hop artist’s ideas of a good song. Many artists create songs about sexual and gang-affiliated encounters that belong in the mainstream sense of music to gain easy money. But he does a good job of avoiding the normal-sounding music of today’s generation to me.

Overall, Khalifa’s project is a good as his other previously released albums, if not better. Nothing seems better to me than a down-to-earth album that is meant to be enjoyed in whatever environment the listener is in.