Picture

Picture Dimension

landscape-medium

Key Takeaways

• Wiz Khalifa introduced ‘Kush & Orange Juice’ to NPR’s Tiny Desk for a 15-year anniversary set with dwell instrumentation.
• The efficiency featured tracks from each the unique mixtape and its sequel, mixing nostalgia with progress.
• Wiz Khalifa ended the set in tears, delivering a uncooked second that captured the emotional weight of his journey.

Wiz Khalifa stepped into NPR’s Tiny Desk and turned it right into a smoky, soulful 15-year celebration of Kush & Orange Juice, the mixtape that helped outline his sound and launched him into rap’s weblog period highlight. The efficiency was a part of NPR’s Black Music Month programming, spotlighting albums that formed tradition and proceed to resonate as we speak.

Initially launched in 2010, Kush & Orange Juice fused laid-back manufacturing with a lifestyle-first method that grew to become a signature for the Pittsburgh native. For this late anniversary celebration, he curated a dwell set that pulled from each the unique mixtape and his current follow-up, Kush & Orange Juice 2. The sequel builds on the unique’s vitality with a extra mature edge, and the 2 tasks sat comfortably aspect by aspect on this dwell reimagining.

Wiz Khalifa’s band introduced a hometown really feel and acquainted chemistry. With DJ Bonics on turntables, Kenneth Wright as music director and bassist, Uncle Bubz on keys, Russell Gelman-Sheehan on guitar and Kendall Lewis on drums, the group labored by way of a six-song set that included “Mezmorized,” “By no means Been” and “Pink Eye,” to call a couple of.

The vitality within the room felt tight from the beginning. Wiz Khalifa saved his concentrate on the music and stayed principally silent between songs. NPR workers even stepped in after a couple of tracks to remind him it was okay to work together with the gang, however he remained distant — till the ultimate track. After “Crime Bud and Girls,” the rapper turned to the room, wiped tears from his face, and delivered his solely phrases of the set aimed towards the viewers: “You made me cry. F**ok y’all.”

The emotion wasn’t pressured or overplayed in any respect. It got here by way of naturally, wrapping the set in one thing extra uncooked than celebratory. A mixtape that when moved by way of dorm rooms and smoke-filled basements now lives in a special house, reimagined with dwell instrumentation and many years of perspective behind it.