Rolling Papers

Marijuana may not be legal, but Rolling Papers surely will be enjoyed and passed around among Wiz's fans.

Rolling Papers may be Wiz Khalifa's studio debut and his breakthrough record, but as far as mainstream rap goes, it's far from it.

Thoughtful rap that deserves mainstream attention.

On Rolling Papers, Wiz Khalifa's personality shines through: unobscured, stoned, brilliant.

So make no mistake, Rolling Papers is unquestionably slick pop-rap candy, and there's nothing substantive to be found beneath the choking shroud of weed smoke.

Call it mood music for the mindless.

After Rolling Papers Wiz' fan base should expand significantly, as should the number of rap purists angry about his lack of rhyme skills, but complaining about his "rap" skills completely misses the point.

Maybe it's my lowered expectations for major-label rap debuts, or the fact that I never had Wiz pegged for out-and-out greatness, but Rolling Papers sure feels like a qualified success. The album's high points earn Wiz forgiveness for his mistakes.

Just like any given Bone album, Khalifa's chilled and confused Rolling Papers is an acquired taste, and while it's misrepresented by its single and the mixtapes that surround it, it is purposeful mood music, perfect for bong loading or just hanging out.

After clearly finding his identity on his mixtapes, it's like he used his debut to make music for everyone but himself.

It is that sense of self that prevails over the pop sheen of Rolling Papers and makes it worth more than a passing listen.

Songs like Roll Up, Hopes And Dreams and The Race best showcase his self-assured charm.

The idea of ascension, both literally and figuratively, is the album's prevailing motif, and it's the tracks that focus most intensely on this theme that are the strongest.

On Rolling Papers, Khalifa, the 23-year-old Pittsburgh rhymer responsible for the jersey-waving hit "Black and Yellow," manages to give life to those kinds of cash-gorged perma-baked cliches by warmly luxuriating in the space between pop's fresh-faced exuberance and hip-hop's easy arrogance--between skater and playa, Bieber and Biggie.

Hardcore Taylor Gang fans will be happy to add this to their collection, but if you're expecting another round of Kush x OJ, this album will probably disappoint you.

Like Snoop, Khalifa raps extensively, even obsessively about marijuana; unlike Snoop, Khalifa never seems to be having much fun.

Wiz proclaims that his "life is like a movie". Maybe so, but he needs to delete some scenes.

Most people will want Wiz to succeed, as he does successfully come across as likeable personality, and even Rick Ross has displayed a genuine hunger to improve, so anything is possible. But this album is, put simply, one that won't make much of an impression, good or bad. And that's the worst kind.

As a whole, the verses on Rolling Papers are so boring that I'm not convinced that even Khalifa finds them interesting. They seem to exist solely to fill space between the hooks, which are sung, tolerably, by Khalifa himself

With a collection of songs largely indistinguishable from one another, this album exemplifies the struggle up-and-coming rappers currently face.

It is more of the same: overproduced, generic disney channel beats by names no one knows, derivative choruses and melodies that obviously sound manufactured by a tie-wielding Atlantic executive, and lyricism that fails at even being anthemic for parties.

I think for most listeners, if Khalifa can't find a way to reconnect to his Kush & OJ and, to a lesser extent, his How Fly magic there wouldn't be any tears shed if he slinked back to the internet underground by this time next year and stopped bombarding the market with such limp tunes.