Arts/Cultural Event: Wiz Khalifa

           The weather in the beginning of October is supposed to be mild and pleasant to go out in, right? Wrong (for State College, PA at least). I could not believe my friends managed to convince me to trek over to the Bruce Jordan Center to see Wiz Khalifa on the bitterly cold night of October 12^th. In the end, I was extremely grateful for their persuasive ways.

           I’ve never been the biggest Wiz Khalifa fan. I have a collection of his more popular songs on my iTunes library but that’s about it, so going into the concert I really didn’t know what to expect. I was pretty excited because this was also my first time attending a rap concert. We got there right when Wiz’s opening acts were starting. Out of Chevy Woods, Juicy J, Lola Monroe, Berner and Tuki Carter, Juicy J was the only one I had heard of before arriving at the BJC and I have to say he was by far my favorite. The other opening acts were just shouting lyrics out that I couldn’t even comprehend, whereas Juicy J really sounded clear and lively. Everyone on the floor just bobbed along with the music, waiting for Wiz to come out. Eventually the crowd became antsy and you’d hear random shouts of “where’s Wiz” and “we want Wiz.”

Finally the moment everyone had been waiting for came; Wiz walked to the top center of the stage and started to perform. The first thought that popped into my mind when I saw him was “oh my god he’s like a twig!” Wiz was emaciated. I know, weird first thought, but once I focused on his music I got really into it. Before attending the concert, people had warned me he wasn’t the best live performer, but I got the opposite impression. Wiz was fun to watch and sing along with. Being on the ground floor made the experience even better because my friends and I were jumping up and down with the whole crowd. The most surprising aspect of the whole night however, was the fact that people were openly smoking marijuana in the crowd and it seemed completely ordinary. I guess the huge bong on stage that puffed out smoke was a sign that it was acceptable. Wiz is widely known to be a big “pot head” so I probably shouldn’t have been surprised that he attracted such a large crowd of smokers.

We didn’t stay for the last few songs, but of the songs I did hear, “Work Hard Play Hard” was definitely the best. Deciding to go to the concert was so spur of the moment, making the experience even more exciting for me. I can confidently say my first rap concert was a success and I look forward to attending another one of Wiz Khalifa’s concerts in the future.