When Wiz Khalifa came to Canopy Club for the first time in 2010, he was a countercultural hip hop artist breaking out as a worldwide phenomenon. After becoming the first rapper to go viral on Twitter with his 2009 magnum opus mixtape Kush & Orange Juice, he released what would become the international hit “Black and Yellow” just two weeks before visiting Urbana. This song was Wiz Khalifa’s first to hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It would go on to spawn countless remakes and remixes, and grew so popular that it ended up being the fight song for both the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New Orleans Saints in the following year’s Super Bowl. Last Wednesday, May 21st, Wiz Khalifa returned to Canopy Club for the first time in nearly 15 years, having spent the time in between becoming a household name and a legendary rap icon.
His return marks an early stop on his Taylor Gang The World Tour, the second show after opening in Nashville. With this tour, fans get a chance to hear Kush + Orange Juice 2, the sequel to his fan (and personal) favorite mixtape, live. DJ Bonics, Fedd The God, and Chevy Woods were Khalifa’s supporting acts.
In Canopy’s Theater Room, attendees reveled in a true celebration of everything that Wiz Khalifa’s hip hop movement has increasingly stood for since he debuted in 2006. Wiz Khalifa has always been about peace, love, and having a good time being yourself, and he’s expressed these values through being a lovable stoner who makes his own rules. Wiz is an artist who inspires listeners to find success by going their own way — defiantly, if needed — and he’s done so by constantly elevating since his entry into the game.
This show was a real treat, not just for the Taylor Gang fans living in Urbana, but also for the many local up-and-coming rappers and performers I was glad to see in the crowd. This show was both greatly entertaining and a masterclass in crowd engagement, from Wiz Khalifa all the way down to his first opening act, DJ Bonics.
DJ Bonics performed Pittsburgh acts and other stoner rappers, many of whom have been frequent collaborators of Wiz Khalifa. In doing so, the DJ set the stage for Wiz by playing all the people his die-hard fans would have been having in rotation next to him.
Fedd The God, a Pittsburgh rapper himself, was all smiles and positivity during his set. His witty bars and bouncy flow drew in audience members, surely converting a few in the crowd to fans. He was engaging and responsive as a performer, showing love to head bobbers with verbal shoutouts.
Chevy Woods, a longtime collaborator with Wiz and his rapping partner on one of my personal favorites from Kush & Orange Juice, “Medicated,” playfully turned the crowd into a competition, pitting the left side against the right. The result was a feel-good energy where dancing and singing along became a game everyone won. He also tossed some legal joints into the crowd, which the audience seemed to appreciate just as much, if not more.
And when Wiz came out, he was electric from the jump, albeit in his relaxed, cool, stoner kind of a way. He started his set with “What’s Hannin,” which felt like the perfect introductory song:
“I prolly be hanging with real n***as / Prolly be throwing up gang signs / Prolly be somewhere relaxing / Cuz I got a path and a great mind.”
This song, like many of Wiz’s hits, artistically explicates the particular stoner rapper ethos that has fueled his career success while empowering his fanbase for all these years. Wiz is a rapper who took things often seen as negative — like smoking weed or gang affiliation — and flipped them into a movement rooted in positivity. Taylor Gang, his record label and entertainment company, in many ways, represents a redefinition of gang activity, one that is focused on economic empowerment and ambitious creative livelihood.
As a rap icon, Wiz represents a philosophy of living that defies the expectations others try to place on you. His entire ethos revolves around taking the very methods that are often criticized and seen as self-destructive, and flipping them into tools for success.
It’s about minding your own business while flexing on those too busy trying to mind it for you: Kush + Orange Juice 2 is about using language — and living a lifestyle — that might be judged as provocative or reckless, and turning that judgment into fuel. It’s about using people’s doubt and dismissal as a launchpad to rise into realms they thought you’d never reach, precisely because of the very things they criticized. It’s about getting fly, getting high, and it’s about Taylor Gang’ing the world.
Even as a certified global music icon, an underground legend, and a bona fide business mogul, what I appreciated most about this show was that Wiz came to rap. That was clear from the very first song, through his performance of new material from Kush + Orange Juice 2, and even during the delivery of his chart-topping hits and beloved Kush & Orange Juice throwbacks.
Wiz has spent his career staying true to who he said he was from the start, while expanding in ways that continue to inspire his fans and create opportunities for his day-ones to thrive.
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