Rolling Papers

Wiz Khalifa’s breakthrough wafted so casually to the top of hip-hop’s 2011 heap it’s easy to miss how accomplished it actually was. It’s a party-rap album that happily parlays party-rap traditions into modern pop songwriting and production, in ways that helped crack open the conversation for what pop and hip-hop hybrids could be. And at a time when the luxurious melancholy of Drake was starting to cast its long, warm shadow over the culture, Wiz—like Snoop Dogg before him—presented himself as nothing more than a laidback dude looking for a good time. “They say all I rap about is bitches and champagne,” he shrugs on the album-opening “When I’m Gone.” “You would too if every night you seen the same thing.” The difference with Wiz is that you can tell he’s enjoying it. Lyrically, he’s a charm offensive: He’ll be there when you call (“Roll Up”), he loves his camo shorts (“Taylor Gang”), and he wields his endless supply of joints like magic wands that, with a wave, can make the stress of daily life disappear (pretty much every song). But the sheer catchiness of the music—its sing-along choruses (“Black and Yellow”), its synthesizer sparkle (the benny blanco-produced “No Sleep”)—turn even his modest goals into the kind of anthems that elevate partying to a spiritual pursuit. “Know some who say life’s a bitch,” he raps on “The Race.” “Well, I’ma keep flirting.”

Now back on a major label after an independent stint, this long-developing hip-hop star releases a surprisingly cohesive full-length.

It’s a testament to the strange tabloid world we inhabit that Amber Rose is currently more famous for being a rapper’s girlfriend (she’s Kanye West’s ex) than her current rapper-boyfriend, Wiz Khalifa, is for rapping. That’s changing, however, thanks to the breakout success of “Black And Yellow,” the smash hit from…

Check out our album review of Artist's Rolling Papers on Rolling Stone.com.

If it wasn’t for “Black and Yellow,” Wiz Khalifa’s story would match the mixtape past of Currensy, Freddie Gibbs, and even Lil Wayne, but that unrepresentative mega-hit -- and unofficial Pittsburgh Steelers anthem from the previous Super Bowl season -- made Rolling Papers a “highly anticipated” release for a wider audience than usual.

Never an especially technical rapper, Khalifa doesn’t take his game up on Rolling Papers.

Album Reviews: Wiz Khalifa - Rolling Papers

Wiz Khalifa - Rolling Papers review: Atlantic is whittling away any semblance of credibility with these cookie cutter attempts at create-a-rapstar.