Hip-Hop Made: Wiz Khalifa

Back with another installment of Hip-Hop Made to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the birth of Hip-Hop, we linked up with Wiz Khalifa and DJ Bonics to talk about why they believe it is important to celebrate Hip-Hop and the community that has made the genre what it is today. Cameron Jibril Thomaz, known to the world as Wiz Khalifa was born in Minot, North Dakota. Show and Prove, his debut album, was released in 2006 and his "Say Yeah" single dropped in 2008 and became his first minor hit. It garnered attention on stations across the country and charted on the Rhythmic Top 40 and Hot Rap Tracks. When he thinks about why it's so important to celebrate this milestone in the history of Hip-Hop, he reflected on how the music and culture impacted his life. "How much I was influenced and still am influenced by Hip-Hop, and to be able to grow up and learn it as a language and share it with so many other people," he continued "that's what it should be celebrated for, how good it is and how it makes people feel." DJ Bonics, Khalifa's official DJ and radio personality, reminisced on how Hip-Hop not only gave him the opportunity to help support his family but he recognizes the genre as the cultural movement that it is. "Culture is so important because if its treated like that I think you have something to look at, and to look back on, and here we are at a Country festival about to do a Hip-Hop show," he said. The Hip-Hop community has played an integral role in the world today, it's undeniable. To Khalifa, it is "everything" he shared. "We learn everything from Hip-Hop. We learned how to dress, learn how to talk, learn how to walk and that s*** sticks with you throughout your whole life. You might get a job or something like that but you still gone have that Wu-Tang tat." To Bonics, he believes it's so important to maintain positive role models within the Hip-Hop community. "I think master of ceremonies should also be master of communities, I think its important for us to be leaders," Bonics added. Words by Yasmeen Akbar Interview by Mijo