Wiz Khalifa Used To Intern At A Studio In Exchange For Studio Time

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Wiz Khalifa attends his NYC Listening Event on February 3, 2016 in New York City.
A tale of Wiz Khalifa's come up.

Wiz Khalifa's been in the game for over 10 years at this point but his reach in the mainstream only began with "Black & Yellow." The Pittsburgh rapper started from the ground up, like many rappers. In a recent interview with E. Dan from ID Labs, he reveals how Wiz Khalifa kicked his career off at 16 years old.

For any rapper, studio time is a pretty big cost in the budget and at 16 years old, it's pretty difficult to afford a lot of time in the lab. E. Dan revealed to BeatStars that Wiz initially hit the studio after hearing about it through a friend. After spending a few sessions at E. Dan's studio, he later on started interning at the studio in exchange for studio time.

"He had heard about the place through a mutual friend. Maybe the second or third session in, I just really recognized that he was working with a lot of talent and I decided to call him up and sort of offer the studio to him if in exchange, he would come down and sort of help out," he said.

At the time, the studio was just getting started and there was only a few people helping out. However, Wiz' time as an intern would later be cut short due to his talent.

"It didn't last very long, his intern gig. We both felt like we were onto something and it turned into a musical thing. Eventually, every moment he was in there, we were working on music," E. Dan said.

E. Dan later gave advice for younger producers and how to maneuver themselves in the game in 2017.

Watch the full interview below: 


About The Author
Aron A. is a features editor for HotNewHipHop. Beginning his tenure at HotNewHipHop in July 2017, he has comprehensively documented the biggest stories in the culture over the past few years. Throughout his time, Aron’s helped introduce a number of buzzing up-and-coming artists to our audience, identifying regional trends and highlighting hip-hop from across the globe. As a Canadian-based music journalist, he has also made a concerted effort to put spotlights on artists hailing from North of the border as part of Rise & Grind, the weekly interview series that he created and launched in 2021. Aron also broke a number of stories through his extensive interviews with beloved figures in the culture. These include industry vets (Quality Control co-founder Kevin "Coach K" Lee, Wayno Clark), definitive producers (DJ Paul, Hit-Boy, Zaytoven), cultural disruptors (Soulja Boy), lyrical heavyweights (Pusha T, Styles P, Danny Brown), cultural pioneers (Dapper Dan, Big Daddy Kane), and the next generation of stars (Lil Durk, Latto, Fivio Foreign, Denzel Curry). Aron also penned cover stories with the likes of Rick Ross, Central Cee, Moneybagg Yo, Vince Staples, and Bobby Shmurda.
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