Wiz Khalifa's 25 Favorite Rap Albums

The leader of the Taylor Gang talks about his favorite albums from Cam'ron, Wu-Tang, and many more.

Not Available Lead
Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

Not Available Lead

Today, Wiz Khalifa drops his major label debut, Rolling Papers. Although he has dropped albums before (albeit, independent ones) this one is obviously a much bigger deal. Especially because he's coming off a no. 1 smash hit with "Black and Yellow." As Wiz makes his bid for scoring his first no. 1 album, Complex caught up with our current coverboy to talk about his 25 favorite rap albums. Find out about why Dipset was a huge influence on him, which one of his smoking buddies makes a number of appearances on his list, and why his dad took away his DMX CD.

As told to Insanul Ahmed (@Incilin)

#25. Outkast, ATLiens (1996)

Not Available Interstitial

Favorite song: “Wheelz Of Steel”

Wiz Khalifa: “I put that there just because of my mom and her love for Outkast. She totally put me on to that CD. And just listening to it back then, and then being able to get high and fuck to it now is pretty awesome. I wasn’t getting high [when it came out], I was just smelling it. So now I get to smoke it. It’s different listening to it now than before.”

#24. Cam’Ron, Purple Haze (2004)

Not Available Interstitial

Favorite song: “Get Em Girls/The Mizzle (Outro)”

Wiz Khalifa: “I was really into it, and everybody wanted that. Just as a Cam’Ron fan, that made a lot of sense. I was just riding around listening to it and needing that CD in every car that I was in."

#23. Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, The Art of War (1997)

Not Available Interstitial

Favorite song: "Hatin' Nation"

Wiz Khalifa: “Just because of what point in rap it was. They were real relevant, and it was a good CD all the way through. I was always into Bone. I was into everything that they did. But that was a standout album to me because it was most relevant to me and I was a little older when it came out. It came out in like ‘98, so I was able to totally fan out and be a part of it.”

#22. Snoop Dogg, Tha Blue Carpet Treatment (2006)

Not Available Interstitial

Favorite song: “Crazy” f/ Nate Dogg

Wiz Khalifa: “I just remember getting really high to it. And I remember how hard it was all the way through. Snoop being in the game as long as he’s been in the game, it was just great to see him still releasing great material.”

#21. T.I., Trap Muzik (2003)

Not Available Interstitial

Favorite song: “Be Easy”

Wiz Khalifa: “It was just tight. The sound was amazing. That was kind of when everybody was getting on him and his sound was at its best point. I caught on to him during his mixtape days, when he was doing mixtapes and traveling around. So it was just good to see. I remember being with my cousins in the summertime and they were really on it. We were having a lot of fun and partying to that CD.”

#20. Curren$y, Jet Files (2009)

Not Available Interstitial

Favorite song: “Stay Up” f/ Fly.Union

Wiz Khalifa: “It was a solid project. I liked the beats on there and it was just a really good point in time when I heard it, so it kind of reminds me of that. I remember how we were both starting our careers off and doing the things that we wanted to do. I was just happy hearing him doing work, doing what he wanted to do, and rapping about it. It was just tight."

#19. Clipse, Lord Willin’ (2002)

Not Available Interstitial

Favorite song: “I’m Not You” f/ Jadakiss, Styles P, & Roscoe P. Coldchain

Wiz Khalifa: “That was around the time I was playing basketball, so I was on a lot of basketball trips and shit, just listening to that before the game. I loved the delivery. I felt like they were totally different from anyone at the time. It was a new sound and the beats were crazy. It was just a good album. I loved “I’m Not You” just because the beat was hard as hell, the flow was crazy, and I remember listening to it over and over. When I first heard it, it totally stood out to me.”

#18. Cam’Ron, S.D.E. (2000)

Not Available Interstitial

Favorite song: “Double Up” f/ Juelz Santana

Wiz Khalifa: “I was just really into Cam’Ron and all of his music. That was a great album because he was really pushing, getting his sound and his music off the ground. Anybody who could see what it was turning into could see it, but I was just one of those early Cam’Ron supporters. I just always liked his style. He was from Harlem, and I could tell how flashy and cool he was, so I kind of looked up to that. That wasn’t his first album, but it was like his first big look for real.”

#17. Reflection Eternal, Train of Thought (2000)

Not Available Interstitial

#16. Young Jeezy, Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101 (2005)

Not Available Interstitial

Favorite song: “Gangsta Music”

Wiz Khalifa: “I loved how Jeezy was coming up in the game, doing his thing. I liked his flow and delivery. His whole thing was getting real exciting. I was just ready for that CD. And I was in high school, so it was like the cool thing to do to be listening to Jeezy."

#15. Rick Ross, Deeper Than Rap (2009)

Not Available Interstitial

Favorite song: “Rich Off Cocaine” f/ Avery Storm

Wiz Khalifa: “I like the sound he went with on that album. Ross always switches it up. I feel like that was a good point for him and he made some good music on there. I remember just waiting for it. He had a lot of visuals to go with it and a lot of things that he was doing just to get people excited about it. So the build-up was pretty tight. I didn’t care about [the corrections officer photos]. As a fan and as a listener, you separate all that shit from the music and what real good music is. I was able to do that.”

#14. Curren$y, Pilot Talk (2010)

Not Available Interstitial

#13. Three 6 Mafia, Da Unbreakables (2003)

Not Available Interstitial

Favorite song: "Testin' My Gangsta"

Wiz Khalifa: “I’ve been listening to Three 6 Mafia since like ‘97 when they did the whole ‘Tear Da Club Up’ thing. I was always a big Three 6 Mafia fan and they were getting a lot of crossover, mainstream success at that point. So it was good to see them drop that and people finally knew who they were. They had did “Sippin’ On Some Syrup” with UGK and around that time UGK had did a song with Jay-Z, so everybody was kind of catching on to that whole movement. And in Pittsburgh we had been big Three 6 Mafia fans for a while, so it was good to see them.

“I just remember riding around a lot with my cousin. He used to play it a lot, and we’d hear it in his truck. I wanted to do some of the things he was doing. You know how you want to be like your cousin—you want to listen to the music they listen to, you want to drive the car that they drive."

#12. Jay-Z, The Blueprint (2001)

Not Available Interstitial

Favorite song: “Girls, Girls, Girls”

Wiz Khalifa: “Jay-Z was in his prime and at his most influential point in the game. I just remember being really excited about it when it came out and feeling like I had to have it. I bought it the first week. [But I still take] ‘Ether’ over ‘Takeover.’"

#11. DMX, Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood (1998)

Not Available Interstitial

#10. Nas, Illmatic (1994)

Not Available Interstitial

Favorite song: “Life’s A Bitch” f/ AZ

Wiz Khalifa: “I put that just because of how lyrical he was. That was his first album and you get that sound. It was groundbreaking. It was a different style to hear somebody rap like that.

“On 'Life’s A Bitch' of course the lyrics were crazy, but I felt like that was a standout beat and vibe. It felt like a more crossover, widespread feeling. Like, anybody and everybody could like that joint.

“That was one I had to go back and listen to when I was older. By the time I started listening to music, Nas was a little bit different than he was on that CD. So I had to go back and listen to it to really understand it. I was like 14 or 15 when I used to listened to it. At that time, I was just kind of bored with current music so I started listening to older stuff.”

#9. Cam’Ron, Come Home With Me (2002)

Not Available Interstitial

Favorite song: “Live My Life (Leave Me Alone)” f/ Daz Dillinger

Wiz Khalifa: “I was really influenced by Cam and the Diplomats, so just having that album was cool. It really just kicked everything off for that whole movement too. I remember listening to the whole thing. That’s another one that just all goes together. Definitely 'Live My Life' was one of my favorites off that album.

“I feel like Dipset always just did Dipset shit. [Dipset influenced me in] how I incorporate the fans, and the people around me. And also how I just make music that I’m comfortable making and that I want to make. I’m not reaching.”

#8. The Diplomats, Diplomatic Immunity (2003)

Not Available Interstitial

Favorite song: "The First"

Wiz Khalifa: “I put that because of how influential Dipset was to me at that time. I was really into that whole movement and real excited about them on the underground when they were coming out with the album. Cam had signed to Roc-a-fella, so the build-up was crazy. And the album was everything that people expected it to be.

“When I was in junior high, I used to play basketball a lot. So I used to hoop to that album. Anytime I had on my basketball shorts, I’d hoop to it. I carried the actual CD around with me everywhere. And when I lived in Oklahoma for a year, people there were always listening to other music—like chopped and screwed music and stuff like that—and they didn’t understand me listening to Cam’Ron and Dipset, so I was always defending it.

“I was always repping Pittsburgh. Dipset was always real popular in Pittsburgh because of their sound. But they were on some down south shit. So I was just repping what I was repping. They just didn’t understand it, just like I didn’t understand their music. But the same artists that they were promoting and that they wanted to be on, got their chance to blow up as well. So we were both right.”

#7. 2Pac, All Eyez On Me (1996)

Not Available Interstitial

Favorite song: “2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted” f/ Snoop Dogg

Wiz Khalifa: “It was just a good album for that time. Pac’s sound was really developed and I could feel that. I was really young when it came out, but my mom and my aunts were really into it. So that’s what kind of made me be like, ‘Oh, aight.’ Listening to it now, I see the message and how tight it really was.

#6. Ghostface Killah, Supreme Clientele (2000)

Not Available Interstitial

#5. DMX, It’s Dark And Hell Is Hot (1998)

Not Available Interstitial

Favorite song: “Intro”

Wiz Khalifa: “Basically because of how complete it was. It was his first album. He was bringing a sound that no one had really heard. He sounded really hungry on that.

My dad actually took it from me because there was too much cursing on it. But he ended up loving it too so I could still hear it.”

“I actually went out and bought that album because of the single 'Get At Me Dog.' But I think my favorite song was the intro just because of how hard it started off. It gets you ready for the whole album. That’s a perfect way to start off a CD.”

#4. Wu-Tang Clan, Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (1993)

Not Available Interstitial

Favorite song: “Da Mystery of Chessboxin'”

Wiz Khalifa: “I pick that because of how original that sound was. Anybody who comes out with a CD where they’re doing what they do and it’s completely groundbreaking—that’s what I latch onto, always. I was too young to be on it back when it came out, but when I was around like 13 or 14 that’s when I really got into Wu-Tang.

“I really wasn’t into the music that was out at that point. I didn’t have anything against it, I just couldn’t really connect with it all the way. So that’s when I started going back and listening to a lot of the older stuff and that stuff really made me where I’m at now. That became more relevant to me for some reason.

“I was really listening to Wu-Tang’s music and what they were saying and doing. I was a part of that cult following for a minute. I used to always have it in my headphones going to and from school riding the bus. I used to have to ride the bus and those trips took like a half-hour to an hour to get from one side of the city to the other, so I end up listening to the whole CD.

“My favorite member of Wu-Tang? It’s a tie between Ghostface Killah and Inspectah Deck. I always liked Ghostface’s style and I liked the way he dressed. And how he rapped was just totally, completely different. You had to be up on Ghostface to really catch it. I always liked that. And I liked Inspectah Deck lyrically. He always came through.”

#3. The Notorious B.I.G., Life After Death (1997)

Not Available Interstitial

Favorite song: “Notorious Thugs” f/ Bone Thugs-n-Harmony

Wiz Khalifa: “That was when I really started getting into rap and I was watching TV and seeing a lot of the things that I was looking up to. And Biggie had died around that time too. I was in like 3rd or 4th grade so it didn’t kind of register with me the way it did with everybody else. I was kind of away from all that. Tupac had already died first too, so it was weird.

“But everything was built up with me being young and just becoming a fan of rap music. I was getting music from my mom for Christmas and my birthday and that was one of them that I had to have. I was a fan of that whole movement. The whole Puffy and The Family thing, Ma$e, everything that they were putting down was pretty tight.

“‘Notorious Thugs’ was a tight song because there wasn’t really any rappers reaching out and collaborating with people and doing their style. Biggie went and rapped like somebody else. That was crazy.”

#2. Outkast, Aquemini (1998)

Not Available Interstitial

Favorite song: “Aquemini”

Wiz Khalifa: “Just the consistency of that album—the way they brought it all together—you could tell the vibe was there and that everybody was on the same page. They really had that whole project well thought-out. I always respect projects where the sound is all the way there and you could tell it’s not manufactured. I was always into music where I listened to the whole thing. And still being able to listen to it and it still being really relevant, it’s one of the best albums to just put on and have playing.

“I was like 11 when that record came out, so I was able to buy records. One of my cousins had the tape and I heard him playing it. He used to take me everywhere with him, basketball practice and stuff like that. So just riding around with him I heard the tape and just had to get my own copy. So I got my own copy and listened to it. I straight-up went back when I got older and listened to it. It makes more sense when you’re older. For me, it didn’t impact me the same. The music sounded good and that’s what sparked my interest when I was young. But I didn’t totally get it at first. I was a just kid when I heard it.”

#1. Snoop Doggy Dogg, Doggstyle (1993)

Not Available Interstitial

Favorite song: “G’z Up Hoes Down” f/ Nate Dogg

Wiz Khalifa: “I say Doggystyle just because of how influential it was for me. Just the feel of the album, you can tell it was really homegrown and that it was just him and his homies. That element isn’t really lost and you can’t really do that again. You can tell how excited they were and just how genuine the vibe was.

“It was one of the first rap albums I heard when I was younger. I was like 5 or 6 when it came out. My mom had a homegirl who was a little bit younger than her and she was a little bit wilder. She would pick me up from school while my mom was at work and she was always playing it. Going to school or on the way home, I’d hear the album.

“It went from being one of the first rap albums I ever heard in pre-school to being able to ride around and listen to it and smoke weed. It’s still relevant and it still makes perfect sense. I had the same Doggystyle CD for years, it just recently broke and I was pretty pissed about it. I never really discussed the album with Snoop, but I think he knows how classic and legendary it is. I told him how much he inspires me.”

Latest in Music