Wiz Khalifa - Rolling Papers

According to Wiz Khalifa, hip-hop’s latest weed-rap sensation, the title of his third album, Rolling Papers, doesn’t just allude to smoking weed. Instead, the Pittsburgh-based Wiz is trying to convince us that the name is a threefold reference to his stoner persona, his 2009 emancipation from Warner Brothers Records and the album’s freestyled, organic writing process. Unfortunately, that convoluted explanation is only a pretense to this lethargic follow-up to the 2010 mixtape Kush & Orange Juice.

“Black and Yellow,” the first single off the new album, is arguably Khalifa’s strongest track. Produced by Billboard Hot 100 veterans Stargate, the song stands out as a throwback to Wiz’s 2009 sophomore album Deal or No Deal, which was filled with loud, rhythmic beats and catchy hooks. On Papers, however, “Black and Yellow” sounds like an oddity amid the low-energy, hazy feel that permeates the new album. Khalifa’s minimalist lyricism is reminiscent of Kid Cudi, but unlike the melodic Cudi, Wiz’s droning delivery sounds removed from the synth-heavy production. With no strong beat to support lines like, “I always knew I was this good/But I never knew I’d be this good,” from album closer “Cameras,” the rapper sounds immature and uninspired.

Khalifa’s appeal has nothing to do with the substance of his lyrics, as he proved on the marijuana-tribute mixtape Kush, but with no other outstanding elements on his new album, it’s easy to focus on his lackluster rhymes. Of course, none of this will impede his commercial success, as tracks like “Rooftops” and “No Sleep” sound like they were manufactured for repeated airplay. But if Wiz’s newest release is any indication of talent, pay no attention to the man behind the curtain of smoke.