Image
Image Credit
Amy Sussman / Staff via Getty Images
Image Alt
Wiz Khalifa, Gunna
Image Size
landscape-medium
Wiz Khalifa has finally dropped off Kush + Orange Juice 2 after teasing fans with fire freestyles days before the Friday (April 18) release. The 23-track body of work arrives just in time for 4/20 and boasts an impressive roster of appearances from OT Genasis, Ty Dolla $ign, and Juicy J, and that’s not even half of the guests who showed love on the body of work.
The first single, “5 Star,” features Gunna, who takes charge of the record on the melodically mesmerizing chorus. The Atlanta native croons about a five-star freak with lyrics like, “We can do a million things, and we can pick it up and fly on any plane/ We can take a glass in a European train, show you how my lifestyle these days/ We can have a little baby, take you to the crib, and do some freaky things.”
The visual is equally as intoxicating as the track, taking viewers on a fast-paced ride in a Porsche and into the high life of the rappers flanked by female partygoers.
Taylor Gang may notice a few nods to 2010’s Kush + Orange Juice
Khalifa’s Kush + Orange Juice mixtape was released almost 15 years ago to this day. That G-funk sound and the Pittsburgh lyricist remain pristine and prevalent, almost as though a decade-plus had not passed since the project came out. “I sampled a couple of songs on this new one from the old one. I, like, threw it in there. You wouldn’t even know, but just to, like, keep the DNA there… It’s not obvious stuff. It’s nothing that you’ll be like, ‘Oh, this is that,’ but if somebody told you, you’ll be like, ‘Duh,’” he told The Breakfast Club about recapturing that laid back LA vibe.
The “See You Again” mastermind explained, “There’s so many ways to manipulate music these days… We just updated it. We used new formulas for the same thing we already have. And then my producer, Cardo, his sound never went out of style. Even with him producing with like Cardi B and all of that, he still has like his original drum kits and stuff like that. So, he’s just getting right back in his bag. Sledgren. I work with Mike & Keys, and Problem, and DJ Quik… to make something that, like you said, reminds you of the original.”