Wiz Khalifa – “Kush + Orange Juice 2” review

This is the 23rd mixtape from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania rapper, singer/songwriter, actor & entrepreneur Wiz Khalifa. Following his first 2 albums Show & Prove and Deal or No Deal as well as his 8th & 9th mixtapes Kush & OJ and Cabin Fever respectively, his Atlantic Records-backed 3rd album Rollin’ Papers established him as a star & stoner’s icon as did the Mac + Devin Go to High School film & soundtrack. Taylor Allderdice would also receive acclaim, although a lot of what he’s released since has been hit or miss with the biggest hits being Fly Times: The Good Fly Young & the Stoner’s Night collab tape with Taylor Gang Records signee & Three 6 Mafia co-founder Juicy J a few years back. Wiz Owens felt disappointing last summer & Kush + Orange Juice 2 finally arriving on 4/20 weekend only feels right.

The intro hops over this laidback instrumental for Wiz to talk about the kush making him move progressively slower whereas “How We Act” featuring O.T. Genasis produced by Cardo, DJ Quik & Jason Martin formerly known as Problem goes full g-funk for their main bitches. “Crime, Bud & Women” suggests there’s nothing left to do if you stay away while “5 Star” featuring Gunna was a cool pop rap single that Mike & Keys laced with Dominique Sanders.

“Top Down” featuring Jason Martin & Ty$ finds the trio cloudily talking about them rather looking out for their people just before “Pimps n Hustlers” featuring Luh Tyler shows a Mobb influence to the beat dedicating this one to both of those kinds of people in the streets. “I Might Be” featuring LaRussell remembers when all they wanted was 100 bands leading into “What’s Hannin’?” taps in with DJ Fresh to hang with the real ones & throw up gang signs.

Curren$y makes an appearance on “Jet Taylor” representing both Jet Life Recordings & Taylor Gang with Terrace Martin & TM88 giving off a delicate tone instrumentally, but then Wiz Khalifa gives Max B his own 3 & a half minute song assuring that’ll never stop grinding. “Red Eye” shows a bit of a reggae influence getting everyone around him as stoned as he is while “My Influence” featuring Juicy J flexes the Hollywood moves they makin’.

“Take Your Time Get Paid” featuring DJ Quik delivers another g-funk heater going out to everybody who be making money at their own pace while “Cashed Out” featuring Larry June atmospherically claps back at anyone envious of not being in their respective positions. “Got It All” featuring Chevy Woods boasts they have everything others want while “Just to See You Smile” reflects on a special person in his life who’s no longer here with him.

Conductor Williams strips the drums during the chipmunk soul “Super Duper High Outro” for Wiz to drop a brief verse & shout out everyone involved in the tape while “Keep Ballin’” starts the deluxe run talking about the money calling him. Mike WiLL Made-It samples “Throw Your Sets” by the Tear da Club Up Thugs & Crucial Conflict during “Khalifa’s Home” giving a fuck less what others say while “Hide It” gets in his pop rap bag again.

“Bring Your Lungs” featuring Smoke DZA flexes that both of them do it bigger than the Brooklyn Nets’ home arena Barclays Center or the Los Angeles Lakers’ home arena the Staples Center & the final bonus track “Hit It Once” finishes Kush + Orange Juice 2 sampling “White Clouds” by 福村浩 talking about the weed he smokes being the type of shit a vast majority of stoners would wanna hit.

Coinciding with the original Kush + Orange Juice’s 15 year anniversary earlier in the week, the sequel arrives like a visit from a friend from long ago who’s stayed the same other than growing up & becoming wealthier. The production mostly handled by Cardo matched with DJ Quik’s engineering makes the chill soundscapes significantly more terminal joined by a loaded roster of guests who haven’t changed much in the past decade & change speaking on more of the Taylor Gang touchstones you know & love: jet-ski races, beach picnics, fat joints, drop-tops, crab rolls, hot-boxing Ferrari F8s.

Score: 4/5

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Wiz Khalifa – “Wiz Owens” review

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania rapper, singer/songwriter, actor & entrepreneur Wiz Khalifa preluding Kush & OJ 2 with his 22nd mixtape named after California fashion designer Rick Owens’ main line. Following his first 2 albums Show & Prove and Deal or No Deal as well as his 8th & 9th mixtapes Kush & OJ and Cabin Fever respectively, his Atlantic Records-backed 3rd album Rollin’ Papers established him as a star & stoner’s icon as did the Mac + Devin Go to High School film & soundtrack. Taylor Allderdice would also receive acclaim, although a lot of what he’s released since has been hit or miss with the biggest hits being Fly Times: The Good Fly Young & the Stoner’s Night collab tape with Taylor Gang Records signee & Three 6 Mafia co-founder Juicy J from a couple years back.

“Jet Lag” starts off with a jazzy beat, a flow similar to Max B talking about wanting the whole stash instead of going 50/50 & even a missed opportunity of not putting Curren$y on it whereas “Crispy T” featuring Sosamann & produced by Sledgren who did most of Wiz Owens takes the futuristic west coast route instrumentally in the vein of Larry June flexing his pack too loud getting everyone lifted. The “Uhh!” adlibs at the beginning of “Yellow Diamonds” & really throughout the tape feel bitten from No Limit Records’ heyday in the late 90s promising that he’ll show y’all too it that is until “1200 to Smoke” delves further into that west coast sound getting on his stoner shit.

Young Deji & 24hrs join Wiz for the final verse & the hook of “Gym Getting Fine” respectively blending luxurious trap & pop rap in a tacky fashion outside of an A24 Films reference leading into “Early Mimosas” giving off a summertime vibe unsure that he can trust this bad bitch he knows. “Innit” throws it back to “Like a Movie” from Deal or No Deal with the sax sample at the start assuring going trap again to end the first half of Wiz Owens talk about everything in his life being good at this point especially if the weed’s lit, but then “Movie Role” laces his vocals in monotonous auto-tune over synths flexing that this be his actual life.

“When I Was Young” gives off a cavernous trap flare to the beat finding out in his youth that you have to stick to your plan if you even got one while “On Bro” draws inspiration from Three 6 Mafia with it’s instrumental being fried like France & eyes like Japan. “PTSD” is a jazz trap fusion talking about people wanting him to come back when he hardly left while “Dream About You” reuses Ice Spice’s flow sampling “Complicated” by Nivea. “Smoke Break” ends luxuriously welcoming y’all to the private yacht club.

Unfortunately as much as I love Sledgren as a producer & the fact that he did 10 of the 13 tracks on Wiz Owens is amazing, the tape unfortunately gets dragged down by bad mixing as well as only a few underwhelming guests & even the performances from Wiz himself feel flat a lot of the times. Kush & OJ next to Taylor Allderdice are the best tapes in his discography, so I really hope he comes correct with Kush & OJ 2 since the original is held to such a a high standard in his discography.

Score: 1.5/5

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Juicy J & Wiz Khalifa – “Stoner’s Night” review

This is a brand new collaborative album from Juicy J & Wiz Khalifa. One is iconic for co-founding the seminal Memphis, Tennessee outfit Three 6 Mafia with the other coming straight outta Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania gaining worldwide attention in 2010 off his classic 7th mixtape Kush & Orange Juice. These guys have been working with each other ever since Wiz signed Juicy to Taylor Gang Entertainment the following year & they even went on to form the trio TGOD Mafia with TM88 in 2016, dropping their only album to date Rude Awakening that summer. However, it was announced last fall that they were working on Stoner’s Night & now we’re actually being treated to the final product.

“Testin’” is an explosive opener pondering why anyone wants to fuck with them whereas “Weak” almost sounds like a parody of “Weak Azz Bitch” down to the redundant Big30 feature. “Pop That Trunk” however takes a grimier approach talking about having toolies in their whips leading into the nocturnal “Big Game” co-produced by 808 Mafia co-founder Lex Luger getting materialistic.

Meanwhile on “Backseat”, we have Project Pat joining Juicy & Wiz on top of a cloudy trap beat talking about being the realest dudes their women have ever been with just before the horn & chime-laced “Throw It” reveals itself to be a fun strip club banger. “Try It” takes a mistier trap route talking about fighting fire with fire, but then “They Wanna See You” keeps it rolling by angrily clapping back at those praying on their downfall.

“Ass for Days” almost has this symphonic trap quality to it talking about a woman with Cake who goes both ways while “Club Close” has a more vibrant tone speaking on acting a fool. The song “Blaze Up” of course comes through with a cloudy weed anthem while the penultimate track “Why Do I Stay High?” picks up where the predecessor left off except it’s more melodic. “Invest” then ends the album with a celebratory ballad about them investing the money they already have.

It’s always exciting when these 2 link up with each other & Stoner’s Night was definitely an enjoyable listen for me. It’s pretty much what I expected as far as subject matter goes, but Juicy’s production once again takes listeners back to Three 6’s heyday & his chemistry with Wiz Khalifa remains unmatched even a little over a decade later.

Score: 3.5/5