Wiz Khalifa at Sunset Cove Amphitheater, July 15

If Kid Cudi were the first lonely stoner to get major radio airplay, Wiz Khalifa is the next rising star of the kush-loving class of new pop-leaning rappers. His major-label debut — though his third album proper — is called, uh, Rolling Papers, and giddily celebrates blunted half-recollections of the...

By Arielle Castillo

July 14, 2011

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If Kid Cudi were the first lonely stoner to get major radio airplay, Wiz Khalifa is the next rising star of the kush-loving class of new pop-leaning rappers. His major-label debut — though his third album proper — is called, uh, Rolling Papers, and giddily celebrates blunted half-recollections of the good life. Khalifa is far less introspective than Cudi, a little less lyrical than J. Cole, and more street than, say, Drake. Instead, Wiz specializes in laid-back but neck-snapping material that's easy to remember and chant along with without resorting to the utter dumbing-down often required of new rappers.

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