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The tughra (stylized signature) of Mahmud II of the Ottoman Empire. Influenced by Arabic culture, Ottoman rulers had stylized their names in the Arabic way, as depicted in this signature.

Arabic names were historically based on a long naming system; most Arabs did not simply have given/middle/family names, but a full chain of names. This system was in use throughout the Arab world. Today however, Arabic names are similar in structure to those of Modern and Western names.

Structure of the Arabic name[link]

Ism[link]

The ism (Arabic: اسم‎) is the personal name (e.g. "Kareem" or "Fatimah"). Most names are Arabic words with a meaning, usually signalling the good character of the person. Such words are employed as adjectives and nouns in regular language.

Karīm means "generous"

Maħmūd means "praiseworthy"

Generally, the context and grammar should differentiate between names and adjectives, but Arab newspapers sometimes try to avoid confusion by placing names in brackets or quotation marks.

Muslim Practices[link]

A common form of Muslim Arab names is the combination of ʿAbd for males or ʿAmah for females (both English: slave) followed by an adjective of God. A particularly common masculine example is Abdullah (Arabic: عبد الله‎ / English: servant of the One God); the feminine counterpart being Amatullah.

This practice creates a possibility of 99 names for each sex, as there are 99 exclusive adjectives for God in Islam.

Notable points:

ʿAbd is not used upon the usage of one of the prophets' names (in Islam)

This practice is not exclusive to Muslims in the Arab world. For example, in Lebanon and Egypt, AbdelMassih (servant of the Messiah) is commonly used as a Christian last name.

Christian Practices[link]

To an extent, most Christian Arabs have names that are indistinguishable from those of their Muslim counterparts, but they do not usually use specifically Muslim names, such as Muhammad. The following is most common:

• Arabic versions of Christian names (e.g. saints' names: Botros for Peter).
• Names of Greek, Armenian, and Assyrian / Aramaic origin.
• Use of European names, especially French, Greek and, to a lesser extent, Spanish ones (in Morocco). (This has been a centuries-long convention for Christian Arabs, especially in the Levant. For example: George Habash, Charles Helou, Camille Chamoun, etc.
• Names in honor of Jesus Christ.

Abd al-Yasu (masc.) / Amat al-Yasu (fem.) (servant of Jesus)

Abd al-Maseeh (masc.) / Amat al-Maseeh (fem.) (servant of the Messiah)

Abd al-Ilaah: An equivalent to the common Muslim name Abdullah or Abdallah, meaning servant of God, is also used by Christians.

Laqab[link]

The laqab (Arabic: لقب‎) is intended as a description of the person.

The famous Abbasid Caliph Haroun al-Rashid (of A Thousand and One Nights fame). Haroun is the Arabic form for Aaron and "al-Rashid" means "the rightly-guided".

The laqab was very popular at Ancient Arab society, ca 1000 years ago. Today, the Laqab is only used if it is actually a person's birth Surname/Family name.

Nasab[link]

The nasab (Arabic: نسب‎) is a patronymic or series of patronymics. It indicates the person's heritage by the word ibn (colloquially bin) (Arabic: ابن‎), which means "son" (bint for "daughter").

Ibn Khaldun (Arabic: ابن خلدون‎) means "son of Khaldun". Khaldun is the father's proper name or, in this particular case, the proper name of a remote ancestor.

Several nasab can follow in a chain to trace a person's ancestry backwards in time, as was important in the tribally based society of the ancient Arabs, both for purposes of identification and for socio-political interactions. Today, however, ibn or bint is no longer used. (Unless it is the official naming style in a country, region, etc.: Adnen bin Abdallah)

Nisbah[link]

The nisbah (Arabic: نسبة‎) Surname. It could be an everyday name, but is mostly the name of the ancestors' tribe, city, country, or any other term used to show relevance. It follows a family through several generations.

Note: The Laqab and the Nisbah are similar in use, thus, a name rarely contains both.

Example Name[link]

محمد بن سعيد بن عبد العزيز الفلسطيني
Muhammad Saeed ibn Abd al-Aziz al-Filasteeni
muḥammad saʻīdi-bni ʻabdi l-ʻazīzi l-filasṭīnī

Ism - Muhammad (Proper name). Muhammad: praised.

Nasab - Saeed (Father's name). Saeed: happy

Nasab - Abd al-Aziz (Grandfather's name). Abd al-Aziz: Servant of the Magnificient.

Nisbah - al-Filasteenee (The Palestinian). Filasteen: Palestine.

Muhammad Saeed, son of Abdul-Aziz, the Palestinian

This person would simply be referred to as "Muhammad" or by relating him to his first-born son, e.g.:"Abu Kareem" (father of Kareem). To signify respect or to specify which Muhammad one is speaking about, the name could be lengthened to the extent necessary or desired.

Westernization of Arabic naming practices and names[link]

Almost all Arabic countries (excluding for example Saudi Arabia or Bahrain) have now adopted a Westernized way of naming. This is the case for example in the Levant and Maghreb, as well as some North African countries, where French or English conventions are followed (an effect of European colonization), and it is rapidly gaining ground elsewhere.

Also, many Arabs adapt to Western conventions for practical purposes when travelling or when residing in Western countries, constructing a given name/family name model out of their full Arab name, to fit Western expectations and/or visa applications or other official forms and documents. The reverse side to this is the surprise of many Westerners when asked to supply their first name, father's name, and family name in some Arab visa applications.

The Westernization of an Arab name may require transliteration. Often, one name may be transliterated in several ways (Abdul Rahman, Abdoul Rahman, Abdur Rahman, Abdurahman, Abd al-Rahman, or Abd ar-Rahman), as there is no single accepted Arabic transliteration system. A single individual may try out several ways of transliterating his or her name, producing even greater inconsistency. This has resulted in confusion on the part of governments, security agencies, airlines and other: for example, especially since 9/11, persons with names written similarly to those of suspected terrorists have been detained.

Common mistakes[link]

Westerners often make these mistakes:

• Separating "the X of Y" word combinations (see idafa):
  • With "Abdul": Arabic names may be written "Abdul (something)", but "Abdul" means "servant of the" and is not, by itself, a name. Thus for example, to address Abdul Rahman bin Omar al-Ahmad by his given name, one must say "Abdul Rahman", not merely "Abdul". If he introduces himself as "Abdul Rahman" (which means "the servant of the Merciful"), one must not say "Mr. Rahman" (as "Rahman" is not a family name but part of his (theophoric) personal name); instead it would be Mr. Ahmad, being the family name).
  • People not understanding Arabic sandhi in genitive constructions: Habību-llāh = "beloved (Habīb) of (ul) God (Allāh)"; here a person may in error report the man's name as 'forename "Habib", surname "Ullah"'. Likewise, people may confuse a name such as Jalālu-d-dīn ("The Majesty of the Religion") as being "Jalal Uddin", or "Mr. Uddin", when "Uddin" is not a surname, but the second half of a two-word name (the desinence -u of the construct state nominative, plus the article, appearing as -d-, plus the genitive dīn[i]). To add to the confusion, some immigrants to Western countries have adopted Uddin as a surname, although it is grammatically incorrect in Arabic outside the context of the associated "first name". Even Indian Muslims commit the same error. If a person's name is Abd-ul-Rahim (Servant of the Merciful), his companions may call him as Mr Abdul (Servant of) erroneously which will sound quite odd to a native speaker of Arabic.
• Confusing "`alā'" with "Allah": Some Muslim names include the Arabic word `alā' علاء = "nobility". (Here, ` represents the ayin sound, the voiced pharyngeal fricative, and ' represents the hamza sound, the glottal stop, and L is spelled and pronounced once. In Allāh, L is spelled twice and pronounced separately.) In Arabic pronunciation, `alā and Allāh are clearly different. But Europeans, Iranians, and Indians often cannot pronounce some Arabic sounds as precisely, and tend to pronounce these two names the same. For example, the Muslim male name `Alā'-ad-dīn = "the nobility of the religion" (commonly known to English speakers as Aladdin) is often misspelt as Allah-ad-din. Because these two words are different, there is an Arabic male given name "`Ala' Allah" (Aliullah), meaning "the nobility of God."
• Grammar errors: These can result from differences between Arabic grammar and the grammar of some other languages. Arabic forms noun compounds in the opposite order from Indo-Iranian languages. For example, during the war in Afghanistan in 2002, a BBC team found in Kabul an internal refugee whose name they stated as "Allah Muhammad". This may be a misspelling, as described in the previous paragraph, but if not, by the rules of Arabic grammar, this name means "the Allah who belongs to Muhammad", which is not acceptable as a man's name and is ideologically and logically incorrect; however, by the rules of Iranian and most Indian languages this name means "Muhammad who belongs to Allah", which is acceptable; the Arabic equivalent is "Muhammad Ullah". Most Afghans speak Iranian languages. Such Arabic-and-Iranian or Arabic-and-Indian mixed-language compound names are not uncommon in Afghanistan, Iran, and Tajikistan. Compare the Pakistani/Indian name "Allah Ditta".

Arab family naming convention[link]

In Arabic culture a person's ancestry and his/her family name are very important. An example is explained below.

Assume a man has the name of Saleh ibn Tariq ibn Khalid al-Fulan.

• Saleh is his personal name, and the one that his family and friends would call him by.
• ibn translates as "son of", so Tariq is Saleh's father's name.
• ibn Khalid means that Tariq is the son of Khalid, making Khalid the grandfather of Saleh.
• al-Fulan would be Saleh's family name.

Hence, Saleh ibn Tariq ibn Khalid al-Fulan translates as "Saleh, son of Tariq, son of Khaled; of the family al-Fulan."

The Arabic for "daughter of" is bint. A woman with the name Fatimah bint Tariq bin Khalid al-Fulan translates as "Fatimah, daughter of Tariq, Son of Khaled; of the family al-Fulan."

In this case, ibn and bint are included in the official naming. Most Arab countries today, however, do not use 'ibn' and 'bint' in their naming system. If Saleh was an Egyptian, he would be called Saleh Tariq Khalid al-Fulan and Fatimah would be Fatimah Tariq Khalid al-Fulan.

If Saleh marries a wife (who would keep her own maiden, family, and surnames), their children will take Saleh's family name. Therefore, their son Mohammed would be called Mohammed ibn Saleh ibn Tariq al-Fulan.

All Arab countries however do not use the name to its full length, but use conventionally use 2 and 3 word names, and sometimes 4 word names in official or legal matters. Thus the first name is the personal name, the middle name is the father's name and the last name is the family name.

Arabic names and their biblical equivalent[link]

The Arabic names listed below are used in the Arab world, as well as some other Muslim regions, with correspondent Hebrew and English equivalents. They are not necessarily of Arabic origin, although some are. For more information, see also Iranian, Malay, Pakistani, and Turkish names.

* Yassou is the Arab Christian name of Jesus, while `Īsā is the Muslim version of the name, as used in the Qur'an. Yehoshua is also the origin of Joshua.

** Youhanna is the Arab Christian name of John, while Yahya is the Muslim version of the name, as used in the Qur'an.

See also[link]

• List of Arabic star names
• List of Arabic theophoric names
• List of traditional Arabic place names
• Iranian name
• Pakistani name
• Turkish name

References[link]

External links[link]

• Muslim Names Islamic names with Audio Voice for pronunciation of arabic names.
• 6000+ Muslim Names with meaning
• Searchable lists of Muslim names and meanings
• Searchable Muslim baby names online dictionary
• Islamic Names Dictionary
• Muslim Names and Their Origin
• Arabic Nomenclature: A summary guide for beginners. A.F.L. Beeston (Oxford, 1971).
• Period Arabic Names and Naming Practices (2003) by Da'ud ibn Auda (David B. Appleton)
• Automated recognition of Arabic person names
• Baby Names - List of Muslim baby names along with their meanings
• Muslim Names - Database of Muslim names and their meanings

v t e Arabic عربي Overviews Language Alphabet History Romanization Numerology Influence on other languages Alphabet Arabic numerals Eastern numerals Arabic braille Diacritics Hamza Tāʾ marbūṭah Letters ʾAlif Bāʾ Tāʾ Ṯāʾ Ǧīm Ḥāʾ Ḫāʾ Dāl Ḏāl Rāʾ Zayn Sīn Šīn Ṣād Ḍād Ṭāʾ Ẓāʾ ʿAyn Ġayn Fāʾ Qāf Kāf Lām Mīm Nūn Hāʾ Wāw Yāʾ Eras Ancient North Arabian Classical Modern Notable varieties Standardized Modern Standard Arabic Regional Egyptian Iraqi Levantine Maghrebi Sudanese Arabian Yemeni Ethnic/Religious Judeo-Arabic Academic Literature Names Linguistics Phonology Sun and moon letters ʾIʿrāb (inflection) Grammar Triliteral root Mater lectionis IPA Quranic Arabic Corpus

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (July 2008)

Junaid Jamshed (Urdu: جنید جمشید; born September 3, 1964) is a Pakistani recording artist who gained fame as the frontman of the pop group, Vital Signs in 1987 with the hit song, "Dil Dil Pakistan", and remained in demand throughout the 1990s. In 1994, he released his debut solo album, Junaid of Vital Signs, which also quickly became a national hit, followed by Us Rah Par in 1999 and Dil Ki Baat in 2000

Since then, he has focused on Islam and concentrated on reciting nasheeds. His debut religious album, Jalwa-e-Janan was released in 2005 and was followed by Mehboob-e-Yazdaan in 2006, Badr-ud-Duja in 2008, and Badee-uz-Zaman in 2009. He also runs a boutique with the name "J.", read as "Jay Dot", which has several outlets all over Pakistan.

Early life and education[link]

Junaid Jamshed is the son of Pakistan Air Force Group Captain (retired) Jamshed Akber Khan and Nafeesa Akber Khan.^[1] Jamshed wanted to join Pakistan Air Force as a fighter pilot. He studied pre-engineering before joining University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore where he completed his university degree, graduating in 1990.^[2] Despite joining the Pakistan Air Force, he moved on to a career in Aeronautical Engineering due to his weak eyesight.^[3]

Music career[link]

Vital Signs[link]

Though the band Vital Signs was launched in early 1986 in Rawalpindi by record producer Rohail Hyatt and bassist Shahzad Hasan (Shahi), it wasn't until later when Jamshed, then a young aeronautical engineering student from Lahore, joined them as their lead singer.^[4] Though their debut hit single, "Dil Dil Pakistan", released on 14 August 1987, skyrocketed them into fame, the song's success was not seen by him as something that would turn him into a professional musician. Jamshed, who wanted to become a professional engineer, initially didn't want to have anything to do with music other than just treating it as a hobby.^[4]

However, Rohail and Shahzad soon managed to convince him otherwise.^[5] After a string of chart-topping songs and albums, the band split in 1994 and Jamshed began a solo career, achieving increasing commercial success.^[6]

Solo career[link]

Jamshed performing in a 2009 concert

Jamshed released his first solo album, Junaid of Vital Signs in 1994. The album's name was later changed to Tumhara Aur Mera Naam. This was followed by Us Rah Par in 1999. Us Rah Par went on to become one of the best selling albums of that year. The album included several tracks which were released as singles which became popular. They included such songs as, "Us Rah Par", "Na Tu Ayegi", "Aankhon Ko Aankhon Ney" and "O Sanama". In 2000, Jamshed released his next album, The Best of Junaid Jamshed, which contained remixes of some of the hit singles of the Vital Signs era. His last solo album, Dil Ki Baat, was released in 2001.

In 2003, BBC World Service conducted an international poll to choose ten most famous songs of all time. Around 7000 songs were selected from all over the world. According to BBC, people from 155 countries/territories voted in the poll. "Dil Dil Pakistan" was ranked third among the top 10 songs.^[7]

In 2004, Jamshed renounced music and devoted his life to Islam.^[8] To supplement his income, he opened a clothing store "J.", selling Khaadis (a form of Kurta-Shalwar).

Influence[link]

In 1987, Jamshed took Pakistani media by storm with his band's hit patriotic number "Dil Dil Pakistan", viewed as one of the most popular songs of all time.{{by whom|date=November 2011}http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/us/features/topten/} This was a turning point in Pakistan's music history which ushered in a new era of pop music. Fourteen years later, he announced his retirement from music^[4] and devoted a significant amount of his time to religious preaching.^[9] Jamshed now sings Urdu and English nasheeds.

Charity work[link]

Jamshed is also actively involved in charity work and has been associated with the NGO Muslim Charity since 2003. Under the leadership of Jamshed, Muslim Charity has made a significant impact since then, and which has in the last few years and expanded its operations to 17 countries.^{[citation needed]}

Discography[link]

With Vital Signs[link]

• 1989: Vital Signs 1
• 1991: Vital Signs 2
• 1993: Aitebar
• 1995: Hum Tum

Solo Pop Albums[link]

• 1994 - Junaid of Vital Signs (تمہارا اور میرا نام), renamed Tumhara Aur Mera Naam
• 1999 - Us Rah Par (اس راہ پر)
• 2000 - The Best of Junaid Jamshed
• 2001 - Dil Ki Baat (دل کی بات)

[edit] Nasheed Albums^[10]

• 2005 - Jalwa-e-Janan (جلوہ جاناں) (English: The Sight of the Beloved)
• 2006 - Mehbob-e-Yazdan (English: The Beloved of God)
• 2007 - Badr ud Duja (English: The Night's Full Moon)
• 2008 - Yad-e-Haram
• 2009 - Rehmat Ul Lil Aalamin
• 2009 - Badi uz Zaman (English: the wonder of the age)
• 2010 - Hadi Ul Anaam (English: The Guide To The World)

See also[link]

• Vital Signs

Dil Badal de

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Junaid Jamshed

Wiz Khalifa
Wiz Khalifa in Brooklyn, New York in August 2009.
Background information
Birth name	Cameron Jibril Thomaz
Born	(1987-09-08) September 8, 1987 (age 24) Minot, North Dakota, United States
Genres	Hip hop
Occupations	Rapper, singer, songwriter, actor
Years active	2005–present
Labels	Rostrum, Taylor Gang, Warner Bros., Atlantic
Associated acts	Snoop Dogg, Rick Ross, Curren$y, Big Sean, Chevy Woods, Mac Miller, Juicy J, Tinie Tempah, Yelawolf, Maroon 5, Big K.R.I.T.
Website	wizkhalifa.com

Cameron Jibril Thomaz (born September 8, 1987), better known by the stage name Wiz Khalifa, is an American rapper. He released his debut album, Show and Prove, in 2006, and signed to Warner Bros. Records in 2007. His Eurodance-influenced single, "Say Yeah", received urban radio airplay, charting on the Rhythmic Top 40 and Hot Rap Tracks charts in 2008.^[1] Khalifa parted with Warner Bros. and released his second album, Deal or No Deal, in November 2009. He released the mixtape Kush and Orange Juice as a free download in April 2010; he then signed with Atlantic Records.^[2] He is also well known for his debut single for Atlantic, "Black and Yellow", which peaked at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. His debut album for the label, Rolling Papers, was released on March 29, 2011.^[3]

Early life[link]

Khalifa was born on September 8, 1987 to a mother and a father serving in the military.^[1][4] His parents divorced when Khalifa was about three years old. His parents' military service caused him to move regularly: Khalifa lived in Germany, the United Kingdom, and Japan before settling in Pittsburgh where he attended Taylor Allderdice High School.^[1][4]

His stage name is derived from khalifa, an Arabic word meaning "successor", and wisdom, which was shortened to Wiz when Khalifa was a young boy .^[5] Khalifa stated to spinner.com that the name also came from being called "young Wiz 'cause I was good at everything I did, and my granddad is Muslim, so he gave me that name; he felt like that's what I was doing with my music." He got his stage name tattooed on his 17th birthday.^[6][7] He includes Jimi Hendrix, Camp Lo, The Notorious B.I.G. and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony among his influences.^[8]

Career[link]

[edit] 2005–08: Early mixtapes and Show and Prove

Rostrum Records president Benjy Grinberg first heard about Wiz Khalifa in 2004 when the rapper's contribution to a mixtape of various new Pittsburgh artists attracted his interest.^[9] When Grinberg finally met the 16-year-old artist, he immediately decided he wanted to work with him, later telling HitQuarters: "Even though he wasn’t all the way developed you could just tell that he was a diamond in the rough, and that with some polishing, guidance and backing he could become something special."^[9] Khalifa signed to the label shortly after and began a seven year period of artist development.^[9]

Khalifa released his first mixtape, Prince of the City: Welcome to Pistolvania, in 2005. The mixtape paved the way for his first full length album entitled Show and Prove in 2006. Khalifa was declared an "artist to watch" that year in Rolling Stone magazine.^[10][11]

In 2007, Khalifa signed to Warner Bros. Records and released two mixtapes through Rostrum Records: Grow Season, hosted by DJ Green Lantern and released on July 4, 2007, and Prince of the City 2, released on November 20, 2007. His debut Warner Bros. single "Say Yeah" reached number 25 on the Billboard Rhythmic Top 40 music chart and number 20 on Billboard's Hot Rap Tracks. The song samples "Better Off Alone" by Alice Deejay. Khalifa's vocals from "Say Yeah" appear near the end of Pittsburgh mash up producer Girl Talk's 2008 album, Feed the Animals, over music from Underworld's "Born Slippy", Usher's "Love in This Club", and the Cure's "In Between Days".^[12] Khalifa appeared with The Game, David Banner and Play-n-Skillz at U92's Summer Jam at the USANA Amphitheatre in West Valley City, Utah on August 2, 2008.^[13] Khalifa released the mixtapes Star Power in September 2008, and Flight School in April 2009 on Rostrum Records.

Khalifa parted ways with Warner Bros. Records in July 2009 after numerous delays in releasing his planned debut album for the label, First Flight. Khalifa stated to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that, "I learned a lot during my time there and matured as an artist during the process. I'm happy to be moving on with all of my material and having the chance to be in control of my next moves".^[14] Khalifa appeared with Girl Talk, Modey Lemon, Donora, Grand Buffet, and Don Caballero at the Amphitheatre at Station Square in Pittsburgh on July 31, 2009, where he announced that his relationship with Warner Bros. was over.^[15]

Wiz Khalifa performing at Columbia University in New York City in April 2010.

[edit] 2009–10: Deal or No Deal

Continuing his association with Rostrum Records, Khalifa released the single "Teach U to Fly", and the mixtape How Fly, a collaboration with New Orleans rapper Curren$y, on August 9, 2009.^[14] Khalifa introduced a more melodic style on the mixtape, alternating between singing and rapping. He opened for Wu-Tang Clan member U-God at the 2009 CMJ Music Marathon in New York City.^[16] Khalifa released the mixtape Burn After Rolling on November 2, 2009, where he raps over familiar beats from other artists, including the songs "If I Were A Boy" and "Diva" by Beyoncé, "Walking on a Dream" by Empire of the Sun, "Luchini AKA This Is It" by Camp Lo, and "Best I Ever Had" by Drake.^[17] Khalifa released his second album, Deal or No Deal, on November 24, 2009.^[18]

Khalifa performed at Emo's in Austin, Texas in March 2010 as part of the 2010 South by Southwest Music Festival.^[19] He appeared on the cover of XXL magazine that same month, for the magazine's annual list of Top 10 Freshman, which included Donnis, J. Cole, Pill, Freddie Gibbs, and Fashawn. Wiz Khalifa was named 2010 "Rookie Of The Year" by "The Source", with alongside Rick Ross, "The Man Of The Year".^[20] He toured with rapper Yelawolf on a 20-date tour, the Deal Or No Deal Tour.^[21] Khalifa released the free mixtape Kush and Orange Juice for download on April 14, 2010. Due to Khalifa's devoted grassroots fan base, the mixtape became the No. 1 trending topic on Twitter with the hash tag #kushandorangejuice, and "Kush and Orange Juice download” ranked No. 1 on Google’s hot search trends.^[22]

2010: Signing with Atlantic Records[link]

Citing music industry insiders, New York magazine wrote that Khalifa signed with Atlantic Records in April 2010, although the rapper did not confirm it.^[23] He stated to AllHipHop in June 2010 that he was working on a new album, but was weighing his options and had not yet decided on a label to distribute it.^[24] Khalifa confirmed to MTV on July 30 that he was signing an Atlantic Records deal.^[25]

Wiz Khalifa on stage in Boston in August 2010.

Khalifa was featured in a remix and video for the 2010 Rick Ross single "Super High", alongside Curren$y.^[26] He guested on the mixtape Grey Goose, Head Phones, and Thirsty Women by St. Louis rapper M.C,^[27] and was featured on the track "The Breeze (Cool)" on rapper Wale's August 2010 mixtape More About Nothing.^[28] Khalifa was named MTV's Hottest Breakthrough MC of 2010, winning with nearly 70,000 votes, and beating out finalists Nicki Minaj, J. Cole, Travis Porter, and Diggy Simmons.^[29]

Khalifa appeared at the Soundset 2010 festival in May 2010 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, alongside Method Man & Redman, Del the Funky Homosapien and Hieroglyphics, Atmosphere, Murs, Cage, and others.^[30] He also performed at the 2010 Rock the Bells festival, along with hip hop veterans Wu-Tang Clan, Snoop Dogg, Lauryn Hill, A Tribe Called Quest, Rakim, KRS-One, Jedi Mind Tricks and Slick Rick.^[31] Khalifa declined an invitation to tour with rapper Drake and launched his own "Waken Baken" tour, a 50-city national tour with rapper Yelawolf. The tour, scheduled to last from September to November 2010, has, as of October, sold out every venue.^[8] On November 2010, during his "Waken Baken" tour at East Carolina University, Wiz Khalifa was arrested for possession and trafficking of marijuana. He was then released the next morning after a $300K bail, and resumed his tour. Khalifa performed in a cypher during the 2010 BET Hip-Hop Awards. He recited his verse from the song, "The Check Point", from his mixtape with Curren$y, How Fly.^[32]

[edit] 2010–11: Mainstream success and Rolling Papers

Wiz Khalifa at SXSW in 2010

Khalifa released "Black and Yellow", his first single for Rostrum/Atlantic, produced by Stargate, which has received radio airplay.^[8][33] The single was peaked at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100; the title of the song refers to the colours of the City of Pittsburgh.^[34] Khalifa released his debut album with Atlantic Records in 2011.^[35] He appeared with Curren$y on the track "Scaling the Building" on producer Ski Beatz' 2010 album, 24 Hour Karate School.^[36] Khalifa's record label is Taylor Gang Records, named after his love of Chuck Taylor All-Stars^[8], and Taylor Allderdice High School in Pittsburgh, PA, where he graduated from.

On March 29, 2011, Khalifa released his first studio album, Rolling Papers. The album debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 chart, with first-week sales of 197,000 copies in the United States.^[37] Shortly afterward on March 31, 2011 Wiz Khalifa performed at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia as part of the school's annual Dooley's Weekend.^[38] On June 26, 2011, Khalifa was nominated and won Best New Artist at the BET Awards of 2011.^[39] Khalifa collaborated with British rapper Tinie Tempah whom Tinie announced in an interview with Rolling Stone that his next single is to be called "Till I'm Gone" and would feature Wiz Khalifa and is to be produced by Stargate.^[40][41] The single and the video song were released at the end of June 2011.^[42]

Personal life[link]

Thomaz proposed to model Amber Rose on March 1, 2012 showing off the ring on Twitter.^[43] He is personal friends with Snoop Dogg, Juicy J, Yelawolf, and fellow Pittsburgh rapper Mac Miller.^[44]

In March 2012, Thomaz purchased a 2.8 private wooded acres with a 3,891-square-foot residence in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, a small community southwest of Pittsburgh. The residence includes 5-bedroom, 4-bath eco-friendly, Brazilian Koa floors, stainless steel appliances, a separate guest house, and a lavish master suite with high ceilings.^[45] He currently resides there with his fiancée Amber Rose.

Discography[link]

Studio albums

• 2006: Show and Prove
• 2009: Deal or No Deal
• 2011: Rolling Papers
• 2012: O.N.I.F.C. ^[11][46][47]

Collaborative albums

• 2011: Mac & Devin Go to High School (with Snoop Dogg)
• 2012: TBA (with Taylor Gang)

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]