Wiz Khalifa smokes weed by the acre, but his career thus far has been driven by his own shrewd vision for himself. He is not a rapper's rapper, but he helped push rap into its current fixation with doing drugs instead of selling them and has rightfully reaped the rewards of an entire genre following his lead. He also became a pop star with ease in 2010, sliding into the studio with pop titans like Stargate and Benny Blanco and emerging with a No. 1 single ("Black and Yellow") that was a pure rap banger and another pop smash ("Roll Up") that applied his airy, breezy aesthetic to the radio. O.N.I.F.C., his second major label album, is a resounding misstep, and it's the first sign that Khalifa's unwavering focus may be getting swallowed up by the haze.
Or maybe he couldn't bring himself to care about the fragile nature of crossover success any longer. O.N.I.F.C. will quickly be swept under the rug by anyone but his true diehards, yet Khalifa still had a successful year by displaying his malleability. His Taylor Allderdice mixtape from March was a nice stopgap release, steeped in the same foggy, washed out beats that helped elevate him to fame. Cabin Fever 2, from October, saw Khalifa dipping into L.A.'s ratchet scene to show just how much artists like Iamsu! owe to his own mix of nonsense rapping and soft, blissed-out singing. Both mixtapes were right in his lane, and they predicted the direction Khalifa would take with the album proper.
Khalifa has already more or less disowned his debut, telling his fans that "creatively [it] wasn't my best work." That regret is evident on O.N.I.F.C. which tosses a Blanco produced single to the dogs but then retracts further into his vaporized aesthetic. The album kicks off with a suite of tracks that are meant to wash over you, and they are undoubtedly effective-- "Paperbond" is steeped in the comforting draft of chillwave while "Bluffin'", produced by Drumma Boy no less, borders on balearic. The problem, though, is that both songs would work best as zone-out instrumentals. Khalifa doesn't say anything of note-- "riding in my ride" is crushingly emblematic -- and doesn't sound particular good from a technical standpoint. He is there because he has to be, not because he should be.
Everything from there on is just an unending succession of diminishing returns that questions the relevancy of Khalifa's artistic existence. He could-- and just may-- pump music out for the indefinite future that coasts on sound design and little else. Wiz has never exactly spit quotable 16s but his rapping on O.N.I.F.C. suggests ignorance regarding his own distance instead of a conscious desire to roll with the vibes. The album's acronym stands for "Only Nigga in First Class" and sports a dour looking photo of Khalifa on the cover, but it's difficult to find any significance in either-- he hints at fatigue, but doesn't illuminate the flipside of stardom in any way.
Maybe the album's most indicative track is "No Limit", which is nearly nine and a half minutes long thanks to a three-minute instrumental interlude. It sounds pointless except that the interlude is easily the most enjoyable moment of the record. After a verse from Wiz, the song slips into beachside ambience, ice-rattle drums, and plaintive pianos. It is legitimately as good as anything Air France ever did. Then Wiz starts rapping again.
