Before Wiz would “Roll Up” to his “House
In The Hills” like “It’s Nothin,” He was just a kid living “Young Wild and
Free” in the city of “Black And Yellow” with “Hopes and Dreams” of “Wake(ing)
Up” “So High” on the “Top Floor” of a “Glass House” with the “Spotlight”
on him. Before Wiz would have one of the most viewed
videos ever uploaded onto YouTube with “See You Again,” which currently has 4.1 billion
views on the site Before Wiz would have his own strain of weed Before he would star in an Oreo commercial
with his son: Before he would go from being a skinny kid
who no one would have been scared to fight, to gaining 40 pounds as a trained Muey Thai
fighter: And Before Wiz would have over 27.2 million
followers on Instagram, 34.2 million followers on Twitter and close to 19 million subscribers
on YouTube. With the humble persona Wiz displays in interviews,
you might forget that he is one of the most successful artists of all time. But his humbleness could come from always
remembering the work that he put in for years. He grew up with military parents who travelled
all over the world, he impressed a studio head so much with his lyrics that they let
him record for free and he worked on his craft for years building an online fanbase. Now, whatever Wiz wants to do, he can do. But how did he get to be the massive superstar
he is today, we’ll take you through the journey in this video. This, is the story of Wiz Khalifa. What’s going on good people in the comment
section? My name is Jeremy Hecht, I hope you’re having
one Hecht of a day, and I’ll be your host today as I take you through the come up of
Wiz Khalifa, here for you on Before They Were Famous. If you’re new here, I’m the LA host for
this channel bringing you weekly content. Recently, I’ve done videos on DaBaby and
YG so be sure to check those out later. Follow me on Instagram and let me know there
who to cover next or in comment section below. I’ll reply to as many people as I can in
a future video. And I’ll also be replying to some of your
comments you guys left on one of my last videos at the end of this one, so be sure to stick
around for that. Before we jump into it, I’ve got a trivia
question for you that I’ll be answering at the end of the video as well: “What’s Wiz’s stoner nickname from a
few years back?” And I have a feeling a lot of you don’t
know this one even if you think you do. Stick around until the end of the video to
find out the answer. And stay until the end because I’ll be reading
some of your comments on my last video at the end of this one too. Alright, let’s get into the show! Wiz Khalifa was born Cameron Jibril Thomaz
on September 8, 1987 in Minot, North Dakota to military parents who were constantly moving
around. His parents split up when he was around the
age of 3, but Wiz lived in multiple places globally, spending time in Germany, the UK
and Japan, before finally settling down in Pittsburgh with his mother. Music was in his household from a young age,
with his parents always having something playing. He was forced to leave his friends so often
when moving to a new place, that music became the only consistent part of his life. When he was younger he would write poems and
stories to help get his thoughts out. Wiz would also go back and research 90’s
rap like Biggie, Snoop, Camron, NWA, Bone Thugz, Big Daddy Kane and Wu-Tang, which helped
him fall in love with the craft of writing lyrics. Wiz attended Taylor Allderdice High School
in Pittsburgh and in school he was a good student who payed attention, listening in
class and did his homework. He was a little bit loud and would be the
class clown occasionally but for the most part, he was a good kid. It was in Pennsylvania that Wiz began to write
lyrics in his notebook and there began his rap career. His stage name Khalifa comes from the Arabic
word meaning “successor” and “wisdom,” which is where the Wiz came from. He’s mentioned several originals of the
name though, including his grandfather giving him the name Khalifa because of his Muslim
heritage stating that he felt like Wiz would bring Wizdom within his music. the older kids he would hang out with started
calling him a Young Wiz because he was a prodigy, being good at everything he tried. And that’s still true today, I mean look
at his progress in MMA in such a short time. Even Rogan was impressed: Wiz’s first mixtape was self-produced and
self-recorded at 14 years old and it was called “Words of Wizdom.” By 15 years old, Wiz was recording at a studio
called I.D. Labs in Pittsburgh. The studio manager heard a young Wiz rapping
and was so impressed by his lyricism that he let him come back and record for free whenever
he wanted. Well, not technically free, because Wiz would
have to clean the studio’s bathrooms, go get blunts for the studio crew and pickup
Wendys for other rappers. So he was basically an intern. In my intern days at the radio station I got
a lot of breakfast burritos for my favorite rappers so I feel him on that. The only other job that Wiz had in his life
was doing a paper route at 12 years old. Shortly after he began recording at I.D. Labs, the president of Rostrum Records, Benjy
Grinberg, heard Wiz rap on a Pittsburgh compilation tape and thought that Wiz had the standout
verses. At the time Wiz was just 16 years old but
Benjy knew that the potential was limitless. That potential was worked on daily from that
point on. Wiz signed with Rostrum Records and started
his journey in artist development. A journey that would be 7 years of constistently
working on his lyrics, song structure, flow, hooks, tone and everything else that would
produce elite music. It was also at 16 that Wiz started his tattoo
journey with his mom actually offering to buy him a tattoo for his 16th birthday. So shoutout to moms for helping to create
his image! In terms of weed, Wiz doesn’t like to say
exactly how old he was, but here’s what he had to say about his first ever time smoking: At first, he hated it and was tripping out
bad. But after some time, he began to love weed
and it’s become a huge part of his life. One of my life goals is to smoke with Wiz,
and I don’t really even smoke I just feel like that would a once in a lifetime experience. Wiz began to do small shows in small areas
outside of Pennsylvania, building up his stage presence. His very first tape was called Prince of the
City” in ’05. He dropped “Show and Prove” the following
year, earning him a spot on Rolling Stones “artist to watch” list. In 2007, he signed to Warner Brothers records
through Rostrum and released the mixtapes “Grow Season” and “Prince of the City
2” continuing to gain an online following. Later that year he dropped his Warner Bros
debut single called “Say Yeah” and it landed at number 25 on the Billboard Rhythmic
Top 40 chart. He continued to flood the online scene with
music dropping the “Star Power” and “Flight School” mixtapes. But he was ready to drop his official label
debut album. Unfortunately, Warner Brothers didn’t feel
like he was ready and delayed the album numerous times. The two parted ways and through Rostrum, Wiz
kept releasing music. In 2009 he dropped “How Fly” with Curren$y
and started to play around with melody a bit more. When the two first met, they realized how
similar they were and formed a really strong bond. Wiz even slept on the couch of Currensy’s
apartment for the whole summer just to record. Wiz also became really close with Mac Miller
who signed to Rostrum Records and came up under him. Still hurts to think about the loss so I’m
taking a moment of silence just for him and his fam. RIP Mac. It was the “Burn After Rolling” mixtape
that gained a lot of online traction as he rapped over multiple popular instrumentals
including my personal favorite, the “Walking on a Dream” inspired song “The Thrill.” Then he released “Deal or No Deal” the
same year. Wiz appeared on what some could argue is the
best XXL Freshman class list to date, alongside his peers J. Cole, Big Sean, Freddie Gibbs
and Nipsey Hussle, RIP. Wiz was a part of the internet era of mixtapes
that ushered in a new class of rappers that would shift the sound for generations to come. Big Sean, J. Cole, Kid Cudi, XV, Drake, Big
KRIT, Mac Miller, Wiz and more were changing the way that new fans discovered their favorite
rappers. It was a direct connection from artists to
fans. But he was also a part of a group of artists
who started to treat mixtapes like albums. And using this formula, Wiz changed everything
when he dropped the free mixtape “Kush and Orange Juice” in 2010. The title of the mixtape was actually coined
from one of his friends who said that Wiz’s laptop smelled like Kush and OJ. Shoutout to Jake from Canada for creating
a legendary movement and shoutout to Damian Campbell for getting that info. The mixtape was the number one trending topic
on Twitter and became number 1 on Google’s hot search trends. From there, he began selling out venues on
tour, winning best new artist awards and gaining the respect of his peers and the industry
alike. While the timeline is hazy, somewhere around
that time, he did sign a new deal with Atlantic Records. His debut single with Atlantic was a massive
smash! “Black and Yellow” became the number 1
song on the Billboard Hot 100 and basically every single school in the nation created
their own parody of the song with their school’s colors. With that song he was the first artist from
Pittsburgh to crack the Billboard Top 40 since Christina Agulera. And I know she technically wasn’t born there
but she was raised there so they counted her as a Pitt artist for that stat. Finally, he was ready to drop his debut album
“Rolling Papers.” But in an unprecedented move within the industry,
Wiz decided to drop “Cabin Fever” 2 weeks before the album was set to come out. Not only did it work, but it has become one
of his fanbases most prized possesions. In 2011, Wiz dropped his debut, selling close
to 200k copies first week and it had the singles “On My Level,” “Roll Up” and “No
Sleep.” Since then, Wiz has had an insane career arc
and has created an empire for himself. Singles, check. Albums, check. Tours, check. Movies, check. Collabs, check. Having his own strain of weed, check. And most recently, he’s even found an interest
in MMA fighting. Is there anything that Wiz Khalifa can’t
do? Well I guess we’ll have to wait and see,
because this, is Before They Were Famous. Oh by the way, his weed nickname is… not
the nickname for his weed, anyways just roll it (no pun intended) And there you have it, the answer to your
question from the beginning of the video. Alright, now let’s get to some of your comments
from one of my latest videos. These are all from “The Rich Life of DaBaby:” As always, I’m Jeremy Hecht, be sure to
follow me on the Gram and let me know who to cover next
or in the comments down below. I’ll reply to as many people as I can in the next video. Dream Good, Live Better, I hope you have one Hecht of a Day and I’ll see you in another video.
