NEWSWiz Khalifa's 'Rolling Papers' Nabs Rave Reviews
March 29 2011, Published 7:14 a.m. ET
The breakout rapper of the year seems to be 23-year-old Wiz Khalifa, whose roots started underground in Pittsburgh but did not stay hidden for long as he has already reached superstardom with his hit "Black and Yellow" before the release of his big label album debut (with Atlantic Record) Rolling Papers. The reviews for Rolling Papers are now in and it looks like Wiz has some fans in the music industry!
Catch the early reviews of Rolling Papers below, via MTV News.
OK! NEWS: WIZ KHALIFA'S NEW ALBUM AVAILABLE ONLINE
• "The Pittsburgher's debut on Atlantic is lyrically limited to getting high, stealing chicks, and blowing cash," Brad Wete wrote in Entertainment Weekly giving Wiz's debut a B+ review. "Yet it burns with an underdog's passion and a champion's spite. Marijuana may not be legal, but Rolling Papers surely will be enjoyed and passed around among Wiz's fans."
• "On Rolling Papers, Khalifa manages to give life to those kinds of cash-gorged perma-baked clichés by warmly luxuriating in the space between pop's fresh-faced exuberance and hip-hop's easy arrogance — between skater and playa, Bieber and Biggie," Rolling Stone's critic Jon Dolan wrote in his review giving the album a modest three out of five stars."Khalifa hustled for years to get his big break, suffering record-label indignities, releasing mixtapes and using Twitter to build a following. When he raps, 'I don't wanna wake up,' on 'Wake Up,' you can't help but hope his dream lasts a while."
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• "Khalifa is certainly likable enough with his laid-back flow and knack for catchy rhymes over melodic beats," USA Today music critic Steve Jones. "But he is limited thematically, with almost every song extolling the virtue of weed, women and the good life. All of that footloose fun is cool and all. The only problem is that there are only so many clever ways to describe the hedonism."
Wiz recently told MTV of his new album, “It’s definitely aggressive, but I’ve got songs on the album like On My Level,’ ‘Black and Yellow’ is not really a calm song, so … they’ve got to keep listening,” adding, “Or, you know, they can stick there, but at the end of the day I know what I’m doing.”
What do you think of Wiz's label debut? Share your thoughts in the comments and listen to the track, “When I’m Gone” below.
