Wiz Khalifa Artistfacts

September 8, 1987
Wiz Khalifa was born Cameron Jibril Thomaz to parents who were both in the military. He moved around a lot as a kid and lived in Germany, the United Kingdom, and Japan before his family finally settled in Pittsburgh.
His stage name comes from the Arabic word "khalifa," meaning "successor" or "leader." It was bestowed on him by his grandfather. The "Wiz" stands for "wisdom," a name he picked up because he hung out with an older crowd and seemed wise beyond his years. He put the two together and became known as Wiz Khalifa when he was still a teenager. He got the name "Khalifa" tattooed across his back when he turned 17.
On March 1, 2012, Wiz Khalifa proposed to his girlfriend, the model Amber Rose. Rose was best known for her high profile relationship with rapper Kanye West as well as her appearances in print ads for Louis Vuitton. Khalifa posted pictures of the engagement ring on Twitter.

Khalifa and Rose married on July 8, 2013 and had a child, Sebastian, together, but it didn't last: Rose filed for divorce on September 24, 2014, citing irreconcilable differences.
When they were a couple, Khalifa honored Amber Rose by having "Amb" tattooed on his right thumb and "Rose" on his left foot. She went one step further, getting his entire face inked onto her arm.
Wiz Khalifa says the most important advice he can give to up-and-coming rappers is to "always work hard." Khalifa believes the keys to finding success are to keep putting material out and to let people know what you’re doing. Above all, the rapper says a new artist needs to "always put yourself into whatever it is that you’re doing."
Khalifa says he's always high when he works and that he doesn't want to think about trying to make music if he can't smoke weed. He believes more people smoke it than don't and says he "loves ever stoner movie that's ever existed."
Growing up, Wiz Khalifa had two dream collaborations: Snoop Dogg and Cam'ron. Since Snoop appeared on Khalifa's album Rolling Papers, the rapper says Cam'ron is the next person he'd love to hook up with.
Wiz made his acting debut with Snoop in the 2012 stoner movie Mac and Devin Go to High School. The pair also wrote and recorded the soundtrack, which featured the hit single "Young, Wild & Free."
Wiz Khalifa's first major label deal was with Warner Bros., but the rapper says leaving the company was a great move. He believes that his team has been able to move forward on their own and that leaving Warner opened him up to more opportunities that he wouldn't have had otherwise. Soon after his departure, Atlantic Records snapped up Khalifa and released his first official major-label album Rolling Papers.
Speaking to Playboy, Khalifa described his upbringing in Pittsburgh as "really dark." He explained: "A lot of shootings and gang violence. I saw people get killed. You'd get off the bus and somebody would be dead and they'd be cleaning it up. A lot of waking up in the morning and seeing people you knew dead on the news."
Wiz revealed to US Weekly that he takes off his left shoe whenever he is "in the zone" in the studio.
He teamed up with Converse in 2013 to launch a line of Chuck Taylor All Star sneakers. He says Chuck Taylors represent "living within your means and being yourself." When he was young, they were the only cool sneakers he could afford.
He's rather flagrant with his marijuana use, which has gotten him in trouble over the years, most famously when Romanian authorities detained him in July 2024 after he sparked one up on stage when headlining a festival in Costinesti. He was released but in December 2025 sentenced in absentia to a nine-month jail term. He's in little danger of being extradited, but likely won't be visiting that country again.

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