Wiz Khalifa – Rolling Papers (2xLP Deluxe 10th Anniversary Edition)

"Just being 'The Man' out there in front of people" may sound like a fuzzy and also ridiculous dream. For Cameron Thomaz, it may be the most appropriate thought anyone could ever have. Parents both in the military, the man - better known as Wiz Khalifa - has always aspired to embody a new standard by which to measure "cool." Rapping since the third grade and recording music for the first time at 14 recording music for the first time at 14 was arguably a step in the right direction. The next best step? Signing a deal with Rostrum Records after meeting Benjy Grinberg.

Having just finished high school, it was time to prove himself. 2005 wiz released his first mixtape, Prince Of The City: Welcome To Pistolvania. The mixtape was quickly accepted in the local scene and caused a stir outside of Pittsburgh. With this ever-growing buzz behind him, the time was perfect for a decently profitable album. Wiz Khalifa soon released Show And Prove, hailed by Okayplayer. com as "arguably the best album of the year." The praise piled up, and XXL, Rolling Stone, and VIBE lined up. A deal with Warner Bros. Records followed.

Any other 20-something would probably have had all the hype go to their head, but not Wiz Khalifa. Focused as ever, he took the praise as an opportunity to work even harder. In 2007, with a little help from popular mixtape DJ Green Lantern, Wiz released Grow Season , followed a little later by Prince Of The City 2 . The sequel to Prince Of The City quickly began to outpace its predecessor. The demand for Khalifa's music was greater than ever.

Unfortunately, Khalifa and Warner Bros. severed ties, and once again, Wiz Khalifa became an independent artist. Usually this is a full stop for any artist, however Wiz Khalifa refused to allow the lack of a major label deal to slow down his momentum. He and his Rostrum team got off the ground in 2009, releasing three acclaimed mixtapes, Flight School , How Fly - a collaboration mixtape with New Orleans rapper Curren$y - and Burn After Rolling . The album Deal Or No Deal followed and entered at the top of the iTunes "hip-hop" chart. To this day, it remains in the Top 50.

In the months that followed, both his fanbase (known as the "Taylor Gang") and the anticipation for his new mixtape grew daily. Then, when Wiz Khalifa released Kush & Orange Juice in the spring of 2010, it became clear that he had established himself as one of the biggest young stars to watch. With an unprecedented number of downloads, not to mention both the top search on Google and the #1 hot Twitter topic, it looked very much like the entire nation had become part of the "Taylor Gang" movement. Many felt Kush & Orange Juice designated Wiz as the valedictorian of his class of "XXL Freshmen 10" and kicked open the very doors he and his team had hoped to walk through.

Fast forward a few more months, and Wiz and Rostrum Records proudly announced those doors were Atlantic Records, Wiz Khalifa's new home

Just in time for this career milestone, Wiz Khalifa set off on the famous "Rock The Bells" tour - alongside legends like Lauryn Hill and Snoop Dogg. His USA-wide headlining tour followed on its heels, appropriately themed the "Waken Baken Tour." After receiving kudos from rap veterans like Rick Ross and Diddy wiz Khalifa humbly turned down Drake's offer to join his current tour. It was also slowly becoming apparent online that Wiz Khalifa had become a big deal - with over 1,000,000 friends on Facebook and over 500,000 fans following him on Twitter. Then, the video for his first Atlantic release, Black & Yellow, garnered 3 million views. There's no question that Wiz Khalifa's debut album is going to be something big