Wiz Khalifa's Kush & Cheese Eggs

I recently finished listening to Wz Khalifa’s new mixtape, Kush & Orange Juice, for the second time and to be completely honest with you, for how much attention and anticipation this mixtape has garnered, I am not that impressed. I first heard of Khalifa a couple years ago in the Source’s Unsigned Hype Section and all I really knew was that he was from Pittsburgh, was tatted up like a Maori Warrior, and said Taylor Gang… a lot.

I guess you could call Kush & Orange Juice a themed mixtape, relying heavily on the kush and barely mentioning the orange juice. It was definitely an above average mixtape and played like an actual album. It had no obnoxious sirens, gunshots, or DJ’s interrupting the music to say juvenile things like, “Wiz fucking Khalifa nigga!” I was quite pleased about that. The music for the most part was good and far superior to most of the hip hop that record companies pay the radio stations to play. The beats range any where from real poppy to soulful and funky to something you would think the French group Air would produce. The diversity of the beats keeps your attention through the 20-song hour-long mixtape.

Still, Khalifa seems limited in subject matter. He has definitely found his niche, the weed lover who likes nice clothes and other people’s girlfriends. Sure, most 18 to 30 year olds fall into that group, but there are only so many minutes in my day that I can devote to listening to how bad ass Wiz Khalifa’s life is. The rhymes never really stray away from smoking weed with your girlfriend in some hotel room and being dipped in the nicest gear. Another thing that detracts from the tape is Khalifa’s signature stoner giggle. It wears thin, and if you were to ride in a car with someone who constantly kept giggling like a ninny you would surely ask, “Why the hell do you keep doing that?” There is only one track, “We’re Done”, that is atrocious. It is an overly poppy track with some female singer singing the hook. It sounds like something you would find on a Cheryl Crowe album or a 14-year-old girl’s ipod. If I were to think of the antithesis of smoking music, “Were Done” would probably be near the top of the list.

Kush & Orange Juice definitely has some standout tracks. “Visions” and “Good Dank” would have to be two highlights of the mixtape. “Visions” has a sample that Madlib used for Madvillainy and Khalifa flows nicely over the beat. “Good Dank” is reminiscent of some classic southernplayalistic Outkast with the electric guitars. “The Kid Frankie” is also pleasant with an old 80’s funk sound.
Khalifa raps about more than just your girlfriend rolling his weed up and his $675 Louis Vuitton shades. Khalifa raps about one of the more underutilized subjects in rap and music in general… cheese eggs. Khalifa mentions his enjoyment of cheese eggs twice in Kush & Orange Juice and as far as I am concerned he could of devoted a whole track to the oft forgotten breakfast delicacy.

Kush & Orange Juice is definitely a fine mixtape, but it is far from perfect. The beats are quite good for the most part and Khalifa is pretty talented at saying how cool his current standard of living is. Khalifa would probably be the first to tell you he is no Poor Righteous Teachers or Common, but he is adept at rapping about what he knows: weed, your girlfriend, and clothing. I did get tired of hearing how Khalifa was running up in my girlfriend and giggling at the same time, but the beats soothed my anger for the most part. If I had to pin a vague, non descript number to rate this album I would go with a 3.5 out of 5.

Download Kush & Oj at http://www.mediafire.com/?5dmwmejymtj