Hip hop stoners have been around for as long as we can remember. It's nothing new to us and this new wave of "stonerific" music shouldn't be a surprise. But you gotta believe one of the people, or the main person responsible for reviving this movement is Wiz Khalifa. Since 2010, Wiz has been a favorite for many stoners. His 2010 mixtape Kush & Orange Juice to some is a classic. It pretty much propelled him to all the way to where is now. But to me he hasn't quite matched the quality of music from that mixtape since. Did he this time? This is his fifth album Blacc Hollywood. Never hearing 2006's Show And Prove or 2009's Deal Or No Deal, I can only go off the last two releases. 2011's Rolling Papers was a very poor and lazy effort. Especially for a major label debut.To this day no album has literally put me to sleep quicker than that album. Lazy production, lazy flow. Just an overall lifeless album. Then 2012's O.N.I.F.C. while it had way more energy, it lacked any substance or decent content. The same topic on various trap beats or trap inspired beats. I had really hoped this time around Wiz would make a serious change to how he put together his albums. After listening to Blacc Hollywood, I'm kinda feeling the same way I felt about the last album. The album is just average...if that. He's done nothing to change or show any kind of progress. Same weed related topics, same basic flow with plenty of cringe worthy lines, same amount of trap beat abuse. I would say the only difference here is probably better singles and better features that makes the album a bit more listenable. It's a shame he's made no type of progress because he can certainly become a much better rapper with better content, flow, lyrics and beat selection. Anyway, I'll now break down the album song by song:
1. Hope (featuring Ty Dolla $ign)
...and here we go. Starting right off the back with trap beats. The track starts with what sounds like some spoken word poetry? It sounds like praise being given to Wiz and telling him to continue his grind or whatever. But the song is as generic as it gets. Generic trap beat and generic content. I guess it sounds good in the car (as many of these songs do) but other than that, nah. Ty Dolla $ign drops a quick R&B verse which really does nothing for it either. It's really a "meh" song overall.
2. We Dem Boyz
Believe it or not, I actually like this. This may be his best single since "Black And Yellow". Yeah the flow and lyrics are piss poor but it's incredibly catchy to the point you can't help but like it. One of the best songs on the album honestly.
3. Promises
If there's one thing I hate it's when not so good rappers try and sing. This song was a huge no no. Wiz sings majority of this song which is a love dedication to his wifey Amber Rose. If she heard this then she might be ready to put his ass on the couch. His singing is almost two times more horrendous than his rapping. Sometimes I wanna blame the weed for songs like this that he makes but you can't blame it every time. This was just horrible. Horrible.
4. KK (featuring Juicy J and Project Pat)
Here is the second trap beat of the album and this one is one of the better ones. Thanks really to Juicy J and Project Pat who gave it that vintage old school Three 6 Mafia feel. Thank goodness for them because Wiz is on this just unleashing all kinds of horrific lyrics: "Cali weed blowing like a rasta mime/kush seeds straight from Afghani-stein". Did this fool really mispronounce that word just so it could rhyme? This is how you know what rappers have limited vocabulary. Anyway, it's a tolerable song to an extent. (FYI: "KK" stands for Khalifa Kush. To no surprise.)
5. House In The Hills (featuring Curren$y)
On an album filled with not much decent content or subject matter, this is probably the only song that has a bit of it. He's talking about his come up, his dislike on how the media portrays him as a pot head when he's more than that and so on. He also goes on talking about his new responsibilities as a husband, as a father and as a young CEO. It seems he's trying to show a bit of maturity here in understanding where he is now. This is a good song just on the topic alone. If only the rest of the album could have shown the same maturity...
6. Ass Drop
Ladies...grab your favorite pair of twerking shorts. We got another one. I totally would not be surprised at all if this is the next single. Twerk songs do nothing for me and I can't get with them. But of course the females will love this. In the club, at parties or even in their house in front of their web cam. So yeah overall, this doesn't do anything for me.
7. Raw
This now the third trap beat. This song is a perfect example of a song saved by the beat. Again, it sounds good in the car but Wiz's pathetic lyrics and atrocious flow makes it hard to listen to this more than once. I mean I don't know what he was thinking with that flow. Epic fail.
8. Stayin' Out All Night
The mood and vibe of this song actually took me back to Rolling Papers. That's not a good thing because I was not a fan of that album. All he does here talk about partying all night and just celebrating life or whatever. It's an OK song at best.
9. The Sleaze
This is one of the more better beats on the album. Well produced by Arthur McArthur. I actually didn't even mind his flow or lyrics on this either. It's a pretty good songs. Again, he isn't talking about much but compared to other songs on this album, this one is tolerable.
10. So High (featuring Ghost Loft)
This song was hilariously bad. Every bar he spits, he ends it with "uh huh". I feel like he's mimicking Kendrick Lamar's flow and if that's the case then it's the worst imitation ever. Also of course, no Wiz Khalifa album is complete without a track about being high which this is. The hook for this is actually not bad but his flow on here was pitifully bad.
11. Still Down (featuring Chevy Woods and Ty Dolla $ign)
I swear damn every feature on this album murdered Wiz on his own track. I loved Chevy Woods verse on here. It was dope. Even Ty Dolla $ign was cool on the hook. For that alone this song is pretty good. I could probably play this in rotation a few times. Cool song.
12. No Gain
Trap beat number four. But this one is much more slower and R&B sounding. I honestly don't know how I feel about this one. It sounds like something from O.N.I.F.C. In fact, he's somewhat talking about the same stuff as the single "Work Hard Play Hard" from that album. But yeah...really don't know what to make of this yet.
13. True Colors (featuring Nicki Minaj)
This has one of the worst hooks on the whole album. I really, really cannot stand his so called singing. Then once again another feature, this time Nicki Minaj, takes him down on his own track. Truth be told this song has more of a Nicki vibe than it does Wiz. It's average overall I suppose.
14. We Dem Boyz (remix) (featuring Rick Ross, Schoolboy Q and Nas)
This is the first of two bonus tracks. It's probably one of the worst remixes of 2014. The original is a hundred times better than this. The beat is different, the hook is different and although the features were all better than Wiz, none were eye popping like that. No even my favorite rapper Nas who sounds so uncomfortable even being on this. Yeah...I don't like it.
15. You And Your Friends (featuring Snoop Dogg and Ty Dolla $ign)
The second of the two bonus tracks. Surprisingly this is the only DJ Mustard produced track on the whole album. I expected more of his beats seeing as how he's been everywhere this year. Anyway, the beat makes this an okay listen. It sounds very much like a single if it isn't one already. It's cool overall.
Well in conclusion, this album overall just doesn't do it for me. Like I mentioned before, same old stuff. As far as flow, lyrics, content, beats. No sign of progression at all. I give this a final grade of a C-. Reflecting back to that song "House In The Hills", Wiz Khalifa really needs to show more of that same maturity he showed on that track. I understand that this is the persona he has put out there but also he needs to realize that he does have responsibilities now. He is a husband, he is a father, he is a CEO. At some point you gotta show a bit of growth in your music. You can still be a stoner, but now, be more wise about it in your music. Hopefully he comes around on the next album. Hopefully. End.
Final Grade: C-
CREDITS
Executive Producers
Cameron Thomaz
Lead Artist
Cameron Thomaz
Production
Ned Cameron
Noel Fischer
James Scheffer
Edward Murray
Lukasz Gottwald
Jeremy McArthur
Mikkel Ericksen
Tor Erick Hermansen
Daniel Johnson
Rasool Diaz
Luca Polizzi
Brian Soko
Dijon McFarlane
Anthony Tucker
Sonny Uwaekzuoke
Julian Gramma
Nathaniel Caserta
Collaboration
Tyrone Griffin
Jordan Houston
Patrick Houston
Shante Franklin
Danny Choi
Kevin Woods
Onika Maraj
William Roberts
Quincy Hanley
Nasir Jones
Jay Jenkins
Chad Butler
Label
Rostrum/Atlantic Records
Mic's Mixtape Of The Week
Travi$ Scott
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Columbus, OH
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