Wiz Khalifa – 28 Grams (Review)

Wiz Khalifa hasn’t been the most consistent artist when it comes to the quality of the projects he’s released. Many listeners (including myself), prefer the “mixtape Wiz” over the “album Wiz.” This is simply because of the fact that major label albums have to hold a certain amount of commercial music content on albums. In other words, albums have more poppy stuff on them to make it into the mainstream. However, on mixtapes the artist is free to do whatever he wants creatively. This is always the case with Wiz Khalifa. I must admit that I never listened to his first two albums, but why should I when I still find myself bumping Kush and Orange Juice and Taylor Allderdice? Since the Pittsburgh rapper has crept back into first tier rotation on my iPod, I figured I’d give 28 Grams a try.

This time around, Wiz attempts to reinvent himself. With a career originating as an independent artist, followed by migrating to a major label, this was not a bad decision. He’s a husband and father now, so naturally you’d expect to see some maturity. WRONG! Wizzle man is still rambling on about how he only smokes papers, runs through a high number of fast women, and about how much money he has. For an artist like Wiz, this actually works. It’s OK to stick to what you know, and it’s possible to get creative while you do this. But the newly reborn ‘Trap Wiz’ creates the concepts of borrowing flows from various popular rappers today. The same lyrical techniques from artists like Future, Rich Homie quan, Sage the Gemini, are used by Wiz all throughout the mixtape. He even has verses over popular tracks like “Man of the Year”, “OG Bobby Johnson” and K-Camp’s “Cut Her Off.”

Honestly, I didn’t dislike 28 Grams at all. Certain songs go hard just as Wiz Khalifa’s previous works. Out of the 28 tracks, the one’s that stand out to me are “Let’R”, “Pure”, “Incense”, “On a Plane”, “Banger” (Feat. Ty$), and “Comb Over”. But the only song some of our older readers will probably appreciate is “Something Special” (Feat. Thundercat).

There isn’t anything to particular that I would’ve wanted to see more of on 28 Grams. Maybe a few more interesting yet recognizable features. The mixtape really gave me a chance to observe more production from Sonny Digital, who’s worked a lot with artists like Future and iLoveMakonnen (we’ll discuss later). Not to mention production from Zaytoven, responsible for Migos’ smash hit “Versace” and Robb Bank$ “That Sound.”

I have to note that I disagree with the nickname ‘Trap Wiz.’ We all know Wiz hasn’t sold bricks a day in his life. If you’re looking for something hard to ride around and smoke to, look no more. 28 Grams comes in at 4/5 flies.