Wiz Khalifa

Cameron Jibril Thomaz (born 8 September 1987; Minot, North Dakota), known professionally as Wiz Khalifa, is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, entrepreneur and actor.

Early Life

Thomaz was born in Minot, North Dakota, to parents Lawrence Thomaz and Katie Wimbush, both of whom served in the United States Air Force. His parents separated when he was around three years old, and as a self-described "military brat," he moved frequently throughout his childhood, living at various points in North Dakota, South Carolina, Georgia, Oklahoma, Germany, England and Japan before eventually settling with his mother in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he attended Taylor Allderdice High School.

He began writing lyrics around the age of nine and started recording music in his father's home studio in Oklahoma by twelve. His grandfather, who was Muslim, gave him the name "Khalifa," an Arabic word meaning "successor," while his childhood nickname "Wizard," earned for his talent across various pursuits, was shortened to "Wiz" by the time he was fifteen. He began performing seriously as a teenager, adopting the stage name Wiz Khalifa at seventeen.
 

Career

Khalifa signed with Pittsburgh-based independent label Rostrum Records in 2002 and released his debut mixtape, Prince of the City: Welcome to Pistolvania, in 2005, followed by his debut studio album, Show and Prove, in 2006. He briefly signed with Warner Bros. Records in 2007, releasing the Eurodance-influenced single "Say Yeah," before parting ways with the label in 2009 and releasing his second album, Deal or No Deal, independently that November.

His 2010 mixtape, Kush and Orange Juice, released as a free download, became a viral sensation and briefly the top trending topic on Twitter, leading to a deal with Atlantic Records. His major-label debut single, "Black and Yellow," topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 2011 and earned him the BET Award for Best New Artist, while his subsequent album, Rolling Papers, reached number two on the Billboard 200. His fourth album, O.N.I.F.C. (2012), also reached number two and produced the hit "Work Hard, Play Hard."

Around this time, Khalifa founded his own label and collective, Taylor Gang Records, later expanded into Taylor Gang Entertainment, and collaborated frequently with rapper Curren$y. His fifth album, Blacc Hollywood (2014), reached number one on the Billboard 200, led by the single "We Dem Boyz." In 2015, Khalifa reached the peak of his commercial success with "See You Again," a collaboration with Charlie Puth recorded for the soundtrack of Furious 7 as a tribute to the late actor Paul Walker; the song spent twelve weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100, tying the record for the longest-running number one rap single, and won the Billboard Music Award for Top Rap Song as well as the Critics' Choice Movie Award and Black Reel Award for Best Original Song, alongside a Golden Globe nomination.

Across his career, Khalifa has earned multiple Grammy Award nominations, including for "Black and Yellow," "Young, Wild & Free" with Snoop Dogg and Bruno Mars, "Payphone" with Maroon 5, "Remember You" featuring the Weeknd, and Blacc Hollywood. He starred alongside Snoop Dogg in the 2012 stoner comedy film Mac and Devin Go to High School, for which he also recorded a soundtrack, and launched his own cannabis brand, Khalifa Kush, in 2016, which expanded into nationwide dispensaries in 2022. In 2026, Khalifa released two studio albums, Khaotic in January, featuring Juicy J, 2 Chainz and Dave East, and Girls Love Horses in February, his eighth studio album, and executive-produced the soundtrack for the film Moses the Black through Taylor Gang Entertainment.
 

Personal Life

Khalifa was married to model and television personality Amber Rose from 2013 to 2016; the couple share a son, Sebastian Taylor Thomaz. Since 2019, he has been in a relationship with Aimee Aguilar, with whom he welcomed a daughter, Kaydence, in July 2024. His father, Lawrence Thomaz, died in February 2026.

Khalifa has been candid throughout his career about his use of cannabis, which has become closely tied to his public image and entrepreneurial ventures, and his willingness to document his personal life openly, including through his early DayToday YouTube series, helped shape a template for artist-fan engagement widely adopted across the hip-hop industry in the years since.