S. Samuel
Taylor Gang leader Wiz Khalifa has stepped up to address backlash over his new Only N*gga In First Class (O.N.I.F.C.) cover art.
Khalifa hopped on Twitter hours after the artwork surfaced online and explained its significance.
“To Whom Much Is Given, Much Is Expected #BossUp”
“Im Helpin Everyone Get In Touch With Their Inner Sleaze. If U Dnt Wanna Let It Out, Ill Express It For You”
“I’ll Be Brave Enough. Onifc Is Not For The Scary. Iss About Taking Risks So The People Who Believe What We Believe In Can Feel Free”
“The Cover Art Should Give You Confidence And Let You Know You Can Fully Be Yourself In Front Of People No Matter What They Say Or Think”
“You Dont Have To Hide That Sh*t. Let It Out!!! Thass What The Artwork Really Represents”
“And If Your Still Scared, I’ll Do It For You”
“Lets All Grow Together!!!” (Wiz Khalifa’s Twitter)
Yesterday, Khalifa’s stylist Fatima B. placed some context behind the artwork.
“I can understand both sides of people getting it or not getting it,” she tells The BoomBox. “It’s like Kelis [paving the way with her style] six years ago and you see all these artists now [mimicking it].” According to Fatima, Wiz has embraced this look for nearly two years — the entire time she’s worked with him. The rapper began planning his artwork with the intention of keeping his burgeoning style at the forefront. “If you see how Wiz dresses now, it already gives you this whole hippie feel,” Fatima adds. “This whole ’70s vibe. This sleazy, rockstar-type image. This is what we wanted it to be and we wanted people to see the transition from how Wiz used to dress, up until now. This is where we’re at with the album, the music. It all goes together.” (The Boom Box)
The new cover art landed online early Wednesday (August 8).
In case you’ve been living under a rock the size of Gibraltar let me catch you up to speed. Taylor Gang boss Wiz Khalifa is set to drop his long awaited sophomore album O.N.I.F.C, and he teased fans by releasing the cover art for said album. The cover has Wiz dressed in a white and black mink fur, tight red, white, and blue pants as he sits back in a leather chair shirtless showing off his tatted up body. PAUSE. (Stupid Dope)
Earlier this month, Wiz talked about the concept behind his upcoming LP.
“At the end of the day, “Only N*gga In First Class” is to show you the rawness that you gonna get with the album, the real edginess. But it also speaks to the fact of where I come from, as far as I’ve been working really, really hard, to maintain the point that I’m at, the people that I’m at, the crowd of people. It’s more like a first-class living. I really am sometimes the only black person in first class, too. So it’s, like, really real. It’s crazy but it’s cool. It’s weird because when I first started getting that assigned seat, when it became, like, “Oh, he’s gonna be up here,” first people looked at me really funny.” (Rolling Stone)
