Wiz Khalifa's modus operandi has always been simple: rap
about smoking loads of weed and create earwormy tracks built on
repetitive hooks. He perfected the combination on his 2011 hit, Black
and Yellow, an ode to his favourite colours and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
On Blacc Hollywood, he's at it again. We Dem Boyz
was online months ago, and its simple call-and-response chorus and
booming kick-drum was enough to start building hype.
The template is
repeated on KK, with help from former
Three 6 Mafia
member Juicy J and his older brother, Project Pat, while
there's posterior-praising on Ass Drop and a song, Raw, about driving a
car while smoking weed. But unlike, say, Juicy J or Gucci Mane, whose
tales of trapping (drug-dealing) sound convincing and at times
terrifying, Khalifa's attempts to toughen up feel like hot air. He's
undone further by his rap-crooning on Promises, as cringe-inducing as it
is bland and, in contrast to We Dem Boyz, was panned when it came out
in the lead-up to Blacc Hollywood. He's in similar territory on House in
the Hills, a Drakean bit of reflective emo-rap about west-coast living
that goes nowhere, despite a turn from the talented
Curren$y.
Khalifa sounds at his best when he sticks to his formula, instead of
trying to tap into the (increasingly lucrative)
rapper-with-a-heart-of-gold market.
