Artists are often asked if they would ever step outside of the genres that helped shape them and, for the most part, many say that they are willing to push the envelope. We’ve seen much of that executed by Beyoncé and Drake in recent months as their releases Renaissanceand Honestly, Nevermind, respectively, storm the charts. However, we witnessed Drake be criticized for his latest project—an album that he said he wanted to “challenge” himself with—but despite his predecessors, Wiz Khalifa is looking to expand from Rap.
“I think any real artist wants to branch out, but it’s finding your way of expressing yourself,” Wiz told Billboard. “For me, I always think of doing something way out of the box of Hip Hop, whether it be inspired by whatever — but I know how long it takes to actually develop the real bones and DNA of that sound.”
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He added that it is important for him to study and research any genre he would move into out of respect for its history.
“So that’s where you’ll see me step outside of traditional formulas, because I’ve researched it, tried it, seen how it makes other people feel, and looked at how it makes me feel.”
“That’s why with the Multiverse album, I’m so comfortable and I’m so happy to put this out — because I’ve put elements in there that may or may not go over people’s heads, but I know how important they are. I think the real beauty of the experimentation comes from that for an artist, just the confidence of knowing what you know about that certain subject, and being able to put it out there. So if I’m feeling knowledgeable about something, I’m gonna f–king do it. Until then, I’m still learning.”
Elsewhere, Wiz was asked about working with Young Dolph on their 2017 release, “On the River.” Wiz called the late rapper a “cool dude” who kept to himself.
“He was to himself and didn’t like to be around a bunch of people. But the people he did reach out to, he was always super solid [with them],” he said. “He was funny, loved to crack jokes, and his music was really good. He worked to get better and better. He was one of them dudes that was always a pleasure to be in contact with. He smoked a lot of weed too. I loved that about him.”
Revisit “On the River” below.
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