Getty Wiz Khalifa at Lollapalooza Sao Paulo 2018
It’s been seven years since Taylor Gang/Atlantic recording artist Wiz Khalifa last released an album. In an extensive interview with iHeartRadio, he expressed he’s “probably made four albums before landing on this one, and everybody knows this is the one.”
Rolling Papers 2 includes a tell-all song on Wiz Khalifa’s relationship with Amber Rose, and features tracks with Ty Dolla $ign, Gucci Mane, Snoop Dogg, Curren$y, Swae Lee, Lil Skies, and others. Jimmy Wopo, who died on June 18th after being gunned down in Pittsburgh, is also featured on the album.
“This is as important as my first album. That’s the mark I want to make and that’s how I’m coming into it. I had this great career to stand on and all this work I’ve done, but let’s strip all of that away and focus on what I’m about to do right now. This is my time to prove what I’m made of now,” Wiz said in an interview with Billboard.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Rolling Papers 2 : “a New Version of The Old”
In his interview with Billboard, Wiz tipped us off on what to expect, “I want people to feel like they’re listening to a Wiz album and not just another album. I really had to like step outside of it and listen to my old shit and ask, ‘What’s the new version of that?’ Motherfuckers don’t want to feel like they’re in 2009. They want to know that it’s the same n—a. Bring that shit into right now for people to experience.”
Having said that, Rolling Papers 2 is sonically different. “The approach to the record is a classic feel, but I wanted it to sound new. It isn’t overbearing to where it feels like I’m tryna be new. It’s the perfect marriage of the two,” Wiz said in an interview with Rob Markman.
On Twitter, the consensus is that Wiz Khalifa has done well staying true to himself, while at the same time reinventing himself. Wiz chimed in, “Yes. I’m in the reinvention stage, like when Justin Bieber was a child and then transformed himself into a different person but one who was still successful. I was a streetwear brand, and now I’m a high–end designer. People are going to accept me as a grown man now.”
Rolling papers 2 brings me back to happy times and old wiz 🔥
Rolling Papers, Wiz Khalifa’s last studio album, released on March 29th, 2011, was a total success. “Black and Yellow”, “Roll Up”, “On My Level”, “No Sleep”, and “The Race” are classics, and Wiz feels he can do it all again. “Instant classic. This is what the game’s been looking for,” he told Billboard. Rolling Papers went double platinum.
2. Wiz Confesses Why He Broke Up With Amber Rose in Tell-All Track ‘B Ok’
Wiz Khalifa and Amber Rose divorced in 2014 after being married for a year and a half. They’re still involved in each other’s lives as they share the responsibility of raising their 5-year-old son Sebastian.
In his new album, Wiz lets us know where their relationship stands. He raps, “It was 2014 and I was ’bout to go world tourin. You was all up in my face sayin’ that you want more. I remember all of the subjects that we would argue ’bout day and night. Do the best that I can no matter what, but I can’t make it right.”
At the end of the song, Wiz raps that it was Amber who didn’t hold him down, but no matter what the lyrics say, Amber Rose showed him love by giving him a shout out as soon as Rolling Papers 2 dropped.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BlJ7prIHe9m/?taken-by=amberrose
There was some talk back in February that Wiz and Amber were once again a couple after they posted a picture together, but they denied those claims. That was right after Wiz claimed the two still had feelings for each other during a freestyle. “I still love her. She loves me too. You think Imma talk bad about her, you’re through. I never will. That’s the mother of my kid.”
3. Wiz Has a Summer Tour Planned And You Can Win Tickets
Rolling Papers 2, 25 tracks in all, was released on July 13th, long after his summer tour had been announced. The “Dazed & Blazed” tour will begin on July 21st in Detroit and end on September 1st in Concord, CA. Rae Sremmurd is co-headlining. Check to see if they’ll be in a city near you.
You can enter to win tickets to the show of your choice via iHeartRadio. Wiz is rumored to be planning a world tour for the end of 2019. We’ll just have to wait and see.
4. Wiz Wants to Start Underground Fighting Alongside Promoting His New Album
“Being healthy is a big part of my life now because I realized how unhealthy I was before,” Wiz told Rob Markman. When asked if he’d consider training for fights, Wiz responded, “Honestly, to be 100, I don’t know about Pay-Per-View but I’d be completely fine with doing it underground with no cameras or phones. They bring their squad, I bring mine.”
Wiz told Billboard that he’s been dedicated in the gym for about a year now and it’s boosted his self esteem. He struggled with feeling too scrawny before. “It’s a confidence booster for sure. My DM’s are fucking full.”
Physical fitness has become a second passion to Wiz. In a post to his Instagram account back in November, he shared his workout routine, which includes full barbell squats, pelvic thrusts and kickboxing.
Because of this lifestyle change, fans expect him to perform like never before during his “Dazed & Blazed” tour this summer. The consensus on Twitter is that Wiz Khalifa’s Rolling Papers 2 is inspiring others to stick with their workout routines, with hundreds of fans saying similar things, “Rolling Papers 2 is the only thing getting me through this workout.”
5. Wiz Celebrated Album Release Day by Dropping a Music Video to His Title Track
Wiz had a video for his title track “Rolling Papers 2” ready to release simultaneously with his album. In it, he and Snoop Dog journey through a strip club and bowling alley where they get into some street fights. It’s unknown whether or not the fights were real, but Twitter went crazy over the fact that Wiz was shown kicking some serious tail.