Cameron Jibril Thomaz (born September 8, 1987),[2] better known by his stage name Wiz Khalifa, is an American rapper who signed with the local independent label Rostrum Records to release his debut studio album, Show and Prove (2006).

His Eurodance-influenced 2008 single, "Say Yeah" received urban radio airplay and entered both the Rhythmic Top 40 and Hot Rap Songs charts, becoming his first minor hit.

His 2015 single, "See You Again" (featuring Charlie Puth) was released for the soundtrack to the film Furious 7, in tribute to late actor Paul Walker.

The song peaked the Billboard Hot 100 for 12 non-consecutive weeks, received diamond (14× platinum) certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), earned three Grammy Award nominations, and yielded Thomaz's furthest commercial success.

His sixth album, Rolling Papers 2 (2018) matched its titular predecessor in chart position, and was supported by the sleeper hit single "Something New" (featuring Ty Dolla Sign).

Khalifa lived in Germany, the United Kingdom, and Japan before settling in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with his mother around 1996, where he attended Taylor Allderdice High School.

[14][13] Rostrum Records president Benjy Grinberg first heard about Wiz Khalifa in 2004 when the rapper's contribution to a mixtape of various new Pittsburgh artists attracted his interest.

Khalifa's vocals from "Say Yeah" appear near the end of Pittsburgh mashup producer Girl Talk's 2008 album, Feed the Animals, over music from Underworld's "Born Slippy", Usher's "Love in This Club", and the Cure's "In Between Days".

[18] Khalifa appeared with The Game, David Banner, and Play-n-Skillz at U92's Summer Jam at the USANA Amphitheatre in West Valley City, Utah on August 2, 2008.

Khalifa parted ways with Warner Bros. Records in July 2009 after numerous delays in releasing his planned debut album for the label, First Flight.

[20] Khalifa appeared with Girl Talk, Modey Lemon, Donora, Grand Buffet, and Don Caballero at the Amphitheatre at Station Square in Pittsburgh on July 31, 2009, where he announced that his relationship with Warner Bros. was over.

Khalifa released the mixtape Burn After Rolling on November 2, 2009, where he raps over familiar beats from other artists, including the songs "If I Were a Boy" and "Diva" by Beyoncé, "Walking on a Dream" by Empire of the Sun, "Luchini AKA This Is It" by Camp Lo, and "Best I Ever Had" by Drake.

[27] Citing music industry insiders, New York magazine wrote that Khalifa signed with Atlantic Records in April 2010, although the rapper did not confirm it.

[32] Khalifa was named MTV's Hottest Breakthrough MC of 2010, winning with nearly 70,000 votes, and beating out finalists Nicki Minaj, J. Cole, Travis Porter, and Diggy Simmons.

[33] Khalifa appeared at the Soundset 2010 festival in May 2010 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, alongside Method Man & Redman, Del the Funky Homosapien, Hieroglyphics, Atmosphere, Murs, Cage, and others.

[34] He performed at the 2010 Rock the Bells festival, along with hip-hop veterans Wu-Tang Clan, Snoop Dogg, Lauryn Hill, A Tribe Called Quest, Rakim, KRS-One, Jedi Mind Tricks, and Slick Rick.

In November 2010, during his "Waken Baken" tour at East Carolina University, Khalifa was arrested for possession and trafficking of marijuana.

[citation needed] Khalifa released "Black and Yellow", his first single for Rostrum/Atlantic, produced by Stargate, which has received radio airplay.

[42] On March 31, 2011, Khalifa performed at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia as part of the school's annual Dooley's Weekend.

Tinie announced in an interview with Rolling Stone that his next single was to be called "Till I'm Gone" and would feature Wiz Khalifa and was produced by Stargate.

On March 31, 2015, Wiz Khalifa released an EP with fellow Taylor Gang artist Ty Dolla $ign, Talk About It in the Morning.

[56] That same month, Khalifa and Charlie Puth released the song "See You Again", a tribute to Paul Walker, who died during filming for Furious 7.

However, Wiz was arrested in El Paso, Texas for marijuana possession the day before, and there were fears that the mixtape would be pushed back.

[66] In 2018, he released the song "Hot Now", which created controversy due to the line "smoke got my eyes lookin' Korean", which some found to be racially insensitive.

[79][80] Khalifa began training in the martial art Brazilian jiu-jitsu in May 2017 with Rigan Machado, an 8th degree red and black belt.

[81][82] Shortly after, he began training in Muay Thai with former UFC bantamweight title contender Cat Zingano and at the Unbreakable Performance Center in Los Angeles.

[87] In July 2024, Khalifa was arrested in Romania for illegal drug possession following an incident where he smoked cannabis onstage during a concert.

[8] Khalifa graduated from Pittsburgh's Taylor Allderdice High School[8] and purchased a home in nearby Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, in January 2012.