Wiz Khalifa : Weed makes me happy

VOICE UK : Rising rap star Wiz Khalifa tells Davina Hamilton his penchant for marijuana is no addiction
FOLLOWING an enjoyable interview with Wiz Khalifa, I was on a high. Though I can’t be entirely sure it wasn’t a contact high from the weed fumes that penetrated the smoke-filled air of his London hotel room, it was a thoroughly pleasant experience nonetheless!
The US rapper was relaxed but alert as he greeted me with a smile and a handshake. I then placed my dictaphone on the table in front of us – carefully avoiding the herbs that were laid out on said table – before taking my seat next to him.
Looking perky as he rolled a joint and politely requested a portion of fish and chips from his label rep, it seemed clear that the 23-year-old was enjoying his UK stay.
“Yeah, I love it here,” he confirmed, before adding: “I’m scared to death though, coz I’m smoking weed out here! I’m scared of going to jail. I’ve been to jail and you know… it is what it is. I don’t like to go on about it because weed to me isn’t about whether it should be legal or not. So it’s not about spitting in a cop’s face or anything like that because I respect authority. But to me, weed is something that makes a lot of people happy.”
I then recounted to him an interview I did with reggae star Stephen Marley (he too was rolling up at the time), who told me he didn’t believe, as some do, that marijuana is a drug.
“I agree,” said the Pittsburgh native. “Drugs – real drugs – are completely different. You can’t kick real drugs without it having a major effect on your body because of the dependency you have to the drug.
But you can stop weed cold turkey and be fine. You’ll probably have an attitude problem for a few days, but you’re not gonna be physically sick and need marijuana in order to make your body better.”
But despite his pro-ganja stance, the rising rapper, whose new single (ironically titled) Roll Up was released earlier this week, insists he’s not addicted to the herbs.
“No, not at all. I’m addicted to being happy so, you know, whatever makes me happy! I don’t need it. It’s just one of those things that makes me happy.”
Well, with or without the weed, Wiz has plenty to be happy about. After parting ways with Warner Bros. Records in 2009, the confident and clearly intelligent lyricist born Cameron Thomaz signed to Atlantic Records in 2010 and quickly began notching up notable achievements. He graced the cover of US hip-hop magazine XXL, and also grabbed the cover spot of Rolling Stone as part of the magazine’s ‘new faces of 2011’ list.
The success continued earlier this year when his popular single Black and Yellow (inspired by Wiz’s love for the American Football team Pittsburgh Steelers, whose team colours are black and yellow) peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
“The success of Black and Yellow was a real high point,” he says. “So were the Rolling Stone and XXL covers. Being released from Warner was a real pivotal point too. But it’s also a high just doing things the way we are right now.
“We’ve put a lot of emphasis on touring and made it important for artists to get on the road and touch their fans. We’ve also been really creative and come up with different marketing plans. It’s all been natural to us, but people have come to us and said, ‘Wow, y’all changed the game!’ And we’re like, ‘For real?’ Coz it’s not just me; I work with a team of producers, my management, my publicist and my artists that support me. It’s a small team, but we work hard and we get it done.”
Since his emergence on the mainstream music scene last year (his debut album Show and Prove was released in 2006), Wiz has also become known for his personal life. Specifically, his relationship with infamous US model Amber Rose.
Well known for formerly dating rapper Kanye West, Rose’s relationship with Wiz has earned her a barrage of criticism from those who feel she’s only with Wiz for his money and status.
“She gets a lot of backlash from people who say she’s only with me coz I’m a rapper,” Wiz says of his girlfriend. “But to a lot of people, I’m not even popping! I’m still building my career and we’re both growing as people. So when I am up there, nobody will be able to say she just latched onto me because I’m hot. They’ll see that she was with me from day one, when I was still young in the game.”
And it doesn’t bother him that his relationship with Rose has been referred to as him getting Kanye West’s ‘leftovers’?
“No, not at all. You can’t judge a person by who they were with before. If I’d done that, I would’ve missed out on a great person. There are tons of people who were with somebody and then went on to be with somebody else who they really found love with.”
Declaring it a “serious” relationship, could wedding bells be on the cards?
Wiz smiles: “She’s the last girl I’m ever gonna be with.”
On that positive note, I bid Wiz farewell and playfully advised him to avoid getting in trouble with the law (again) as a result of his weed habit.
He laughed: “We’re leaving after this to go to Amsterdam so it’s all good!”
* Roll Up is out now on Atlantic Records

In retrospect checkout this video where Kid Cudi Explains Why He Quit Smoking Weed (Video)

(366 days ago)

HYPEEATER.com is your #1 source for Hip-Hop celebrity news, photos, exclusive music videos, interviews and all the latest in the world of hip hop and R&B music.