Fly Times Vol. 1: The Good Fly Young

When news leaked in late 2018 that Wiz Khalifa had been in the studio with DJ Fresh, fans of both artists anticipated a Khalifa-helmed entry into the Bay Area producer’s long-running *Tonite Show* series. This was not the case. While a four-song Fresh and Wiz set does close out *Fly Times Vol. 1: The Good Fly Young* (the rapper’s second release of 2019, the first being Curren$y collaboration *2009*), this particular project’s sound comes from all over the country. As expected, Minnesota native and frequent Wiz collaborator Cardo is here, providing spacey bops for the first four tracks, as are producers such as New York underground favorite Harry Fraud (“Yea Yup”), Boston’s Statik Selektah (who slows the tempo down for “Gold Bottles” and “Taylor Life”), and Atlanta trap veteran TM88 (“Big Pride (Bag Talk)”). Houston singer Deji also appears on six of 14 tracks. It’s a project guided by Khalifa’s wanderlust, the rapper assured that wherever he goes, the flyness is sure to follow.

One of the most quietly influential rappers of the last ten years maintains cruising altitude.