'Blacc Hollywood,' Wiz Khalifa : Album Review

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Wiz Khalifa's "Blacc Hollywood" is finally in stores today and the biggest word that comes to mind while listening to the album is diversity.

Khalifa is an artist of very high caliber when it comes to making music for anyone it is very easy for him to do so. His album features everything from club bangers and R&B anthems to straight up street hits.

The opening song "Hope" is an instant club banger featuring another one of Taylor Gangs' members, "Ty Dolla $ign." Yes, it is all about the money but its also all about women who aren't looking for love but are just after the material things in life.

Ty Dolla $ign lays down an excellent hook and the song starts the album off with a bang.

Track two is "We Dem Boyz," the street album that started all of the buzz for "Blacc Hollywood," and serves as an in your face song about what Khalifa has accomplished with his boys at his side. He talks about the money and the come up with his crew and reps Taylor Gang very heavy.

"Promises," follows and it is a soulful R&B style track with Khalifa showing his diversity in being able to harmonize with a slow beat produced by the legendary Jim Jonsin.

"Promises" is all about getting caught in the moment with a girl and engaging in passionate love making.

It is most definitely one that the ladies will enjoy and quite frankly even the guys who roll one up now and then may listen to to mellow out.

"KK" is the fourth track and the second to feature production from Jim Jonsin. It is a stoners anthem and its all about smoking the best of the best strains of weed.

"KK" also stands for "Khalifa Kush" and features lyrics to compliment the notion of promoting the continuous use of marijuana, which is to be expected on any Khalifa album.

The track features Project Pat and Juicy J, two members of Three 6 Mafia who are known for being avid smokers as Juicy J often posts pics of marijuana on his personal Instagram page.

"House In The Hills," features Curren$y one of Khalifa's good friends, yes another smoker as well, and a quality lyricist.

Khalifa raps "I'm tryna tell you somethin', this shit's real/When you work hard to get it/that's how you feel/The man that start what they knew and they ain't away/We started small to them houses in the hills/To them houses in the hills/Houses in the hills/Houses in the hills/To them houses in them hills." This is the track you ride to in the car while dreaming about making it big and finally having all that you worked hard for.

"Ass Drop" is a track that is reminiscent of Big Sean's "Ass" and if the title isn't explanatory enough it is all about a females derriere and the way she shakes and moves it.

It really sounds like a song you might hear in one of the strip clubs that many rappers visit such as "King of Diamonds." The beat is fun and playful and the song doesn't take a serious note at any point but it is a decent song for a club.

"Raw" is a track that describes all the lavish things in life and it sounds like Khalifa's version of Black Rob's hit "Woah!" in 2000.

Anything that Khalifa thinks about that is sick, cool, flashy, awesome, is considered "raw." But "Raw" is not all about the the lavish things as Khalifa also says that if anyone wants beef they can also have that "raw," which means that he is not scared of anyone especially those trying to start beef with him.

Track eight "Staying Out All Night," is a standout party anthem that takes manages to fuse wild lyrics with an epic beat that gets low as Khalifa raps and then increases in intensity and rides out smooth.

It stands out because it is in fact that track that could be the soundtrack for a wild night out or a fun night out.

It is also another diverse song as it leans more towards a pop song than a hip-hop song.

"The Sleaze," is another street song and the word Sleaze is used by Khalifa to illustrate how he does everything in life.

It could be mistaken for "Raw," because the two tracks are very similar in subject manner and they both use a word to describe the way Khalifa lives his life, all in all, quality of deliver and lyrics help push the song to the next level, as well as the catchy beat that instantly has the listeners head bobbing.

"So High," is a re-worked version of alt-R&B singer Ghost Loft's 2013 track of the same name according to HotNewHipHop.com. The song features a mystical out of this world beat that sounds smooth to the ears.

Khalifa lays down a few verses about smoking and getting high to accentuate the title of the song.

"Still Down," continues the subject manner of "We Dem Boyz" and features Ty Dolla $ign and Chevy Woods two members of Khalifa's Taylor Gang.

The song is about running with your homies and only "F***ing with your A-1 N****s." Dolla $ign has become a master at creating hooks that are infectious and just flat out work for every song his is featured on.

He is also another talented lyricist and it would explain why Khalifa wanted him on this track and as a part of Taylor Gang.

Track 12 is "No Gain," and it follows the saying "no pain no gain" or if you don't work hard then you won't see any results. Khalifa really lets his fans know how hard he works for everything that he has and this song is all about it.

While it personifies hard work, the song also manages to produce a mellow vibe as if it were made to be listened to after a long day of working hard.

It should sound amazing on a nice cruise to relax your mind.

"True Colors," is a toss up between a pop song and an R&B song featuring Nicki Minaj. Minaj actually shows her vocal talent and sings the majority of her verse. While showcasing the vocal talent she also snaps and gives fans a little rapping as well.

Both artists speak about showing your true colors and always being a real person. Khalifa says that real and rich are his true colors and speaks about pulling up in a white on white vehicle.

The song continues as when he pulls up people are green with envy but the money in his pocket is also green and that serves as Khalifa's true colors.

As if part one of "We Dem Boyz" wasn't good enough Khalifa also gives his fan a part two featuring TDE's Schoolboy Q, MMG's Rick Ross, and hip-hop legend Nas. It is a slower version of the original taking on a smoother tone and certainly caters to Ross' style of rapping of all the features.

Nas and Schoolboy Q both have hard hitting verses and having Nas featured on a song should be a privilege for any artist and speaks numbers about how far Khalifa has come.

"You And Your Friends," is a nice summer party song and helps the album regain its strong carefree vibe.

The track also features another legend Snoop Dogg and once again Ty Dolla $ign joins the line-up producing yet another infectious hook.

If fans were able to purchase the exclusive version of "Blacc Hollywood," they receive three exclusive tracks one of which is "On Me." The extremely hard-hitting track will rattle any trunk and cause pandemonium in the streets. This street anthem features Jeezy and the "Snow-Man" goes insane on this track calling out the haters and calling over the women. "Word On The Town" is the second of the three exclusive tracks and it was also featured on Wiz Khalifa's "28 Grams" mixtape.

It features the late Pimp C, the late rapper out of Houston who has a slew of verses laid down before his death.

Juicy J also graces this track as it is an ode to Houston's hip-hop scene and adds even more diversity to the mix.

The final track in the exclusive release of "Blacc Hollywood" is another feature off of the mixtape titled "Incense," and this track falls under the lovemaking/R&B category.

Khalifa shouts out women everywhere and talks about using the incense to cover up the smell of the smoke.

He also describes the many ways he plans on driving the woman crazy and the track serves as a nice way to close things out.

At its core, "Blacc Hollywood" is a portfolio of Khalifa's most diverse work to date. It solidifies him as one of the dynamic acts in hip-hop today who is not afraid of branching out and being different from the crowd. He is a smoker, a skateboarder, a rapper, sometimes a singer but he is at last an artist in all sense of the word.

"Blacc Hollywood" is Khalifa's sixth studio album and third major release. It is available for download on iTunes and in stores everywhere.