Mixtape name: ‘Kush & Orange Juice’
Artist: Wiz Khalifa
Genre: Hip-hop/Rap
Sounds like: Early Outkast meets Wale
Soundwaves: 4/5
Release date: April 15, 2010

Create the product, sell the product. With ‘Kush & Orange Juice,’ the versatile Wiz Khalifa gives listeners a focused musical product just in time for 4/20. Throughout the album, the Pittsburgh rapper toasts to marijuana, women and a carefree lifestyle. Yet musically, it’s refreshing. Wiz Khalifa chooses sprawling, multi-layered funk beats that revive old-school and rock subwoofers everywhere. His end product is a high-quality, 80-minute hip-hop high.  

Some words of warning: This is a mixtape, not an album. It is not a major-label release, so it won’t show up on iTunes. However, that does not stop Wiz Khalifa from treating this mixtape as a serious artistic experiment.

‘Kush & Orange Juice’ is a loosely focused documentary of Wiz Khalifa’s ‘high’ lifestyle, and listeners should view it as such. Wiz Khalifa may not have created the definitive stoner rap album, but what he does have is some potent stuff. This mixtape has blown up on Twitter and Google during the past few weeks and with its release, Wiz Khalifa should find himself on the mainstream map by the end 2010.  

Something called ‘Kush & Orange Juice’ should be about getting high. Wiz Khalifa stays true to this, beginning his personal routine with ‘Waken Baken,’ a sonic introduction to the hazy, funky vibe of this mixtape. This atmosphere drifts into ‘Mezmorized,’ a smooth and alluring track that sounds like classic Outkast. It’s about pimping, smoking and living the life — conventional subject matter — but establishing a high is what matters most to Wiz Khalifa here. He does well, but upbeat crossover attempt ‘We’re Done’ interrupts the mood when laid-back funk is what we need.  

‘The Statement’ slows back into a hip-hop beat, and Khalifa returns to his rhymes, showing off a voice that resembles rap compatriot Wale in tone and accent. Yet Wiz Khalifa is funkier, and his command of rhythm stands out most in ‘Spotlight.’

We are taken back to the ‘80s in ‘The Kid Frankie,’ a dance-beat groove in which Wiz Khalifa alternates rapping and singing. He is skillful and his singing truly impresses on the spacey and ethereal ‘Up.’ The relaxing mood carries through to ‘Visions,’ a self-aware and modest offering. Wiz Khalifa contemplates making it big while remaining true to his musical vision, and the Kanye West-influenced beat reinforces the sober mood.  

‘Still Blazin’ reminds listeners not to get it twisted, though: The reggae-funk jam reminds of dreadlocks and joint papers. ‘Good Dank’ is experimental and cool, building a rhythmic bed out of bass guitar and jazzy blues licks as Wiz Khalifa speaks over it. ‘Glass House’ is a weak collaboration track that lacks energy and sounds a little too thugged-out compared with the spirit of the previous tracks.

‘Outro’ seems to bookend the journey by recalling the beat of opener ‘Waken Baken,’ bringing the voyage to a sonic conclusion. The mixtape should end there, but ‘Supply’ drags the experience out. It’s not a bad track, it’s just misplaced, canceling out the high that Wiz Khalifa left us with in ‘Outro.’  

In the world of hip-hop nowadays, it’s all about selling a product well. For Wiz Khalifa, the product is music, and he delivers consistent quality. ‘Kush & Orange Juice’ is sweet, sticky music to please both stoners and OJ lovers alike. It is the result of a smart artist on the brink of hitting his prime. Wiz Khalifa figured out that his voice, combined with the proper beats, can be used to establish mood and stir emotions. As he continues to grow as an artist, he should use that tool to create major-release albums as consistent in quality as ‘Kush & Orange Juice.’

ajhaeder@syr.edu

Published on April 19, 2010 at 12:00 pm