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Issue 41 / 2012

Monthly newspaper and online publication targeting 18 to 35 year olds. The ultimate guide to the hottest parties, going out and having fun. Music, fashion, film, travel, festivals, technology, comedy, and parties! London, Barcelona, Miami and Ibiza.

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Issue 41 / 2012 WIZ KHALIFA HIP HOP / RNB 37 www.guestlist.net 7 Whilst in the UK, one of the hottest acts in hip hop dropped by. With a new album coming soon and more filming with Snoop Dogg we caught up with the mixtape King. GRINDING AND TRYING TO BUILD MY NAME, IT'S LIKE CHESS NOT CHECKERS YOU HAVE TO BE CAREFUL BECAUSE YOU CAN'T GO BACK. Mr Wondah | mrwondah@guestlist.net We're joined here by a man who is considered among A-list rappers in the game. He has collaborated with the likes of Big Sean, Chris brown, Bruno Mars and Tinie Tempah. Snoop Dogg is one of his personal friends. Back in 2006 WHEN Rolling Stone Magazine named him one to watch they were not wrong. Since then he's been nominated for an MTV music award, European music award American music award and a Grammy. In 2010 he was voted rookie of the year by Source magazine and then awarded a billboard music award. He has been named MTV's hottest breakthrough MC and has taken residence at billboard number one spot with his hit Black and Yellow. All the way from Pittsburgh USA to the UK we are joined by none other than Wiz Khalifa. Thats 2006 to now man. You just gave me the perfect introduction if I was a fighter I would not wanna fight the guy who was being introduced there. You have that hot new single out, Work Hard Play Hard that you produced and your new album ONIFC. I understand that your family moved around a lot what was the reason for all of that? They were in the military, the Air Force that's how they met actually. They both got out in the early 90's but my step mum stayed in and I moved around with my dad and step mum. My mum stayed in Pittsburgh, it was home, that's where I could take you around that's where I really know where my elementary school photos come from. The name Khalifa means success in Arabic; obviously you're a success, what's the reason behind you getting that name? My granddad is Muslim his name is Jabral du Afiz, he gave me that name when I was younger and he could see where my music was going and thought I was gonna be someone, he foresaw it. Who are your early inspirations as you have been developing your craft? Wu Tang, Nas, Onyx, Big Daddy Kane, early New York hip hop then I got into the down south stuff 36 Mafia, No Limit and that's when I got into more like Cameron as I got older so I listened to a lot of different music of course Snoop and West Coast. So this guy Benji Grinsburg was instrumental in the early development as well what part did he play? Benji has been there since day one and he was able to see my talent and pushed me out there as the next big thing, he's been doing that since I was 16 years old. A lot of people didn't but he never lost faith, there was no difference between my success now and how he pushed me back then, I know he's genuine, he's my manager and we have grown as business partners. recognise that Knowing how competitive I was, and the fact that I was able to come through and do it was great. In 2009 you had the album Deal Or No Deal and Rolling Papers in 2011 which brought us the huge track Black and Yellow what was the idea behind that track? Just trying to focus on what was the most natural thing, I just wanted to record the first thing that came to my head. When I heard the beat it reminded me of being in Pittsburgh but also being in the club and having a good time. I wanted to mix the two and the idea behind Rolling Papers was doing that and doing some new things and making some songs that crossed over. The album is gold and all the singles we dropped went at least platinum which was a really great thing. Now on this album I'm really getting back to the energy I put into my mix tapes, that hard grind and grit that's identifiable by the only thing we can do, my beat makers, the guys who mix my records and my video guys. So you have collaborated with Big Sean, Chris brown, Bruno Mars, Tinie Tempah and Maroon 5 to name a few and the list is endless, which collaboration is most memorable for you? You can be literally called a mix tape king now you actually set a record because your tape was trending so much, did you ever envisage it being that huge? No I didn't, I was always such a fan of mix tapes and I always saw people drop classic ones and just looking at that I knew I had to do something crazy. Definitely the Maroon 5 because of the way it went and how it was put together, everyone got on with everyone, we smoked weed and we talked and a relationship was made. Not only did they love the song they loved this guy, they did what they needed to do to make everything work out. They have a lot of power way more than I have and the single went number one. You have been doing the whole acting game as well with Mac and Devon Go To Highschool With Snoop, are you going to be doing anymore of that? Me and Snoop are going to finish up the Mac and Devon series and make two more films so people should get excited about that. I'm also doing some films with my own company there's gonna be some movies that I'm in and some that I'm not but I am running with the same swag. Like I say you could call anyone to feature on your album, let's face it, you may be too humble to say it but now I have. Who on the new album as far as artistic features go who can we expect to hear? I got Pharrell on there he did a beat and a verse we just had a vibe when we got together, Jim Johnson, Danger of course and my people at ID Productions. The weekend, they are really good and Cameron as well. How close is that to being released now? Probably late August. One rumour I have to clear up, I heard that Drake invited you to go on tour and you said no? That's true, I was getting ready to go on my own tour at that time I was headlining it, it wasn't that many people, 1500 seats maximum. At the point it was important to me to finish up what I had to do. I didn't really feel like sharing the stage and being under anyone, that may sound selfish but as an artist you have to make those decisions regarding where you want to put yourself. I was trying to be as good if not better than Drake. As a fan I look at what people are into so for me grinding and trying to build my name, it's like chess not checkers you have to be careful because you can't go back. So at that point in my career I couldn't put myself up there. Now we go on tour people look at us in the same light because they've have seen us on Forbes together and on Billboard with the same artists but at that point he was a much bigger dog than me and it would make it impossible to pass him up. The single Work Hard Play Hard that's due out soon, has racked up 10,000,000 views on YouTube and it's not even out yet, what was the idea behind that track? Just the same thing I felt the same vibe as when I heard Black and Yellow it reminded me where I was from and what I was into. It reminded me of being in the club and spending money, working hard playing hard. In that order. One thing I have to ask, collaboration wise do you ever think of going into the reggae thing, do you ever listen to that? Yeah definitely I always want to be as well educated on things I can be, I just want to do what's right and what's natural and what's the best vibe. I'm a fan of everything I listen to a lot of stuff not knowing what it is. You mentioned earlier your granddad was a Muslim, did he ever school you on certain things like spiritually, does that keep you grounded? Yeah I read a little bit of the Quran when I was younger. That's my mum's dad and she has two little brothers and they're fully Muslim so I have been able to apply that to my life and respect it for what it is. For more information check out www.wizkhalifa.com

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