On September 8, 1987, Cameron Jibril Thomaz was born in Minot, North Dakota. After his parents divorced, he moved to many places in the world, but settled in Pittsburgh where he wanted to become a rapper. In 2004, a 16-year old Cameron had a meeting with Benjy Grinberg, who wanted to sign him to Rostrum Records under the name Wiz Khalifa. In 2005, Wiz released Prince of the City: Welcome to Pistolvania. Although having a few guests including Kev Da Hustla (who'd later go by the name of Chevy Woods and would be a frequent collaborator on Wiz's projects), Ekko, and S. Money, the mixtape also had the rapper freestyle over beats from Mobb Deep and Jay-Z, and used some original beats. The mixtape was a predecessor to his full-length independent debut, named Show and Prove. Taking over a year to record the album, it was finally released on September 5, 2006 (3 days before his 19th birthday). The album gathered a lot of unknown producers, who were good pals of Wiz.
The last time I actually listened to this album was Summer 2011, and I found this a decent album but 3 years later, do my feelings change on this album? Was the influence on the album worth listening to? Or was Wiz just trying too hard on this album, trying to sound like everybody else in the game? Well, it's time to find out! Let's go!!!
1. Intro
Wiz starts this off with a short and sweet 16-bar intro, sampling an uplifting 70s song. Here, he introduces the album, even referring himself to the late Biggie (Huh, What? I didn't really see that coming!) and saying one of the most legitimate lyrics ever, "I'm bout to make history!" I find this intro good and interesting to listen to, showing people his hunger on the beats, and how he's here for his city. But still, that Biggie reference? I'm still wondering why he had to do that.
2. Pittsburgh Sound
Pittsburgh Sound is a good song to start off your career, especially being your first underground single, repping the streets, but the only trouble I got is that the song does use a "chipmunk soul" instrumental that someone like Just Blaze or (early) Kanye West would produce. I'm not saying the song sucks because of this. Wiz has some great lines on this track, even namedropping 50 Cent (seriously, did Wiz have to refer himself to these people? We're already 2 tracks in and this is a problem). Nevertheless, the song is good, but it did need some improvement, here and there.
3. Bout Mine
This song sounds like something Lil Wayne/Cash Money people would do. I know Wiz is all about his paper and love for the streets, but this song sounded like a leftover on either one of the two Tha Carter albums, which Nesia Beatz (the producer of this track) gave to Wayne, but he didn't want it. Where was I? Oh yeah! Here, Wiz calls himself the young Shaq of rap (seriously?), and try a little at speed-rapping (which wasn't that bad, to be honest). But this song has him try too hard, making this track a little weak for me.
4. I Choose You
Well, a good song I don't really have to rant much about. Although looking like a Just Blaze/Kanye instrumental, the song is where Wiz actually does hard (not try) and succeeds in it. With ID Labs sampling Willie Hutch, Wiz wants to "take us back to '97" (which is the only thing that he fails to do). His lines are good, but what annoys me is "I didn't choose the game, game chose me" part, which gets old quickly (very quickly). Nevertheless, the song is decent, but I wonder if any other inspiration can be found on this album.
5. Damn Thing
This song sounds like a Lil Jon song. If this was originally a Lil Jon featuring Wiz Khalifa track, I'd give it a lot of props, but right now, nah. This being a mainstream clubby track, Wiz does his best in speed-rapping once again, and succeed here and there. This song is a better Southern-influenced track that something like Bout Mine, by the way.
6. Keep The Conversation (feat. Boaz)
Johnny Juliano does a "chipmunk soul" track, using Billy Joel for this. Wiz does alright in it, but unfortunately, Boaz stops this song from working out on me. His generic lines just don't sound right, and make this track rushed and weird for me. By the end of the song, it's still a decent track.
7. Stay In Your Lane
This sounds like a modernised NWA beat. I mean, if Game was on this track probably freestyling instead of Wiz, it would've been legit. But, oh well. The influence in this isn't as annoying and bad as I thought it could be. Wiz's lines improved from track 4 to here, so I don't have any problem with this that much. The beat, although sounding like a modernised NWA beat, is alright [I can imagine Gang Starr on this: Guru on the lyrics and DJ Premier on the beat], and isn't that annoying seeing heavy influence instead of ripping off, making this a much better and improved track.
8. Stand Up (feat. Kev Da Hustla/Chevy Woods)
Wiz raps 2 verses while Kev (who is now known as Chevy Woods) does the chorus. I found this track a standout mainly because of the sample fitting into the beat, and Wiz's rhymes. Chev...oops, I mean, Kev's contribution on the chorus is actually catchy. Yeah, it sounds similar to a Just Blaze beat, but the lyrics, chorus, and sample fitting, sure does make the song a nice one.
9. Too Late
I never really liked this track, and my feelings hasn't changed from this track, especially from the start when I first listened to this. I always skipped this song when listening to the album, due to some weak lyrics from Wiz and the beat is not satisfying like it could be, making this the weakest link of the album.
10. I'm Gonna Ride
This track is OK, I'm gonna be honest. It's that type of song that is a hit-and-miss in 1 song. The "hit" in the song is Wiz's lyrics and flow, which has got better, especially after the previous atrocity; but the "miss" on this song is the beat. The beat is weak, but at the same time, did fit into Wiz's flow. You know, I got to give props to ID Labs though. Their beats aren't as bad as I'd think it could be, especially there was too much similarity to other well-known producers.
11. Gotta Be A Star (Remix) [feat. Juliano & S. Money]
To be honest, I'm not really satisfied and surprised with this track. It's a legit Southern-influenced track, especially with the chopped and slowed sample of "gotta be a star". Juliano's opening verse is weak (but he's not a rapper, he's the guy behind some of the other Southern-influenced tracks), Wiz's continues it really well, but not surprisingly; while some unknown guy, S. Money, has some decent lines. Overall, this song is just an average track.
12. Let 'Em Know
This song is actually one of the decent street tracks that I came across on this album. The sample, fits with the track, appropriately more than the other tracks. Like track 10, Wiz's rhymes are really fitting and so raw. If you were wondering more about why I give props to ID Labs, this is another example why.
13. Sometimes (feat. Vali)
Vali Porter (now simply known as Vali) helps Wiz with the relatable track for the ladies and gentlemen. The track follows how a man's girl (portrayed by Vali) gets suspicious about his whereabouts (just in case he was cheating), while the man (Wiz) tries to explain what he's been doing. When I look at this song now, it feels relatable to the generation of today, especially in a time where there's a lot of crazy girls wondering where their man has been, and getting very suspicious about it. As for the beat, it doesn't disappoint; in fact, this is my favourite track on the album (not "one of my", just MY). The concept is that mainstream heard-it-all-before relationship type of song, but the way Wiz did it worked, so I have no problem.
14. Locked & Loaded (feat. Kev Da Hustla/Chevy Woods)
Ok, so we're back to the "ripping off" and the similarity to [insert your favourite producer]. Kev (at his early days of his career) sounds exactly like what he called himself back then, and the hook sounds like it was supposed to be on a 50 Cent track (but it was catchy though), with the heavy unoriginality being a disappointment to me.
15. Burn Sumthin
On this album, Johnny Juliano is the guy behind nearly every weak link, so to hear his production on this is really surprising. Juliano done well and the production (although, once again, sounding like a Kanye/Blaze beat) is more official than the other atrocities he produced. Wiz's bars are stronger than ever, and the chorus is something raw. This is pretty much one of the strongest links.
16. Crazy Since The 80s
Wiz samples his own song ("Oh No", a song off Prince of the City: Welcome to Pistolvania) and turns it into a slowed sample. So, ladies and gentlemen, it's a Southern-influenced track... and it's weak. Who produced this? Juliano, and previously, we had "Burn Somethin", Juliano's only strong beat on the album, and he's back to the constant Southern beats. BOOOOO!!!!
The following is a double track:
17. History in the Making/Never Too Late
History in the Making samples "Only Time Will Tell" by Asia and uses one of the most predictable titles ever. Wiz spits some repetitively decent bars about how he's about to make history, how he got the streets on lock etc. Here, the hunger is decent and actually nice to listen to, making this a strong link for the 1st half of the double track.
Never Too Late sounds like an early Kanye beat, but here, Wiz succeeds. The track is more like a party track a DJ would play. Wiz spits on this track "like his last song" (which it is, on this album), and follows his life and how he's here rapping. The sample "Never too late, too late to start" (taken from The Stylistics' "Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)") is fitting and suits well on a double track. Compared to History in the Making, I find this the strongest out of the two, for the reason being funky and his hunger feels improved than History, concluding his independent underground debut with something smooth.
Show and Prove is a decent project for an underground debut, but at the same time, it's a hit-and-miss album. I feel that the album was trying to fit into what was hot and banging on the radio at the time (Kanye/Blaze beats and Southern riding/party tracks). The production was averagely decent, but with Johnny Juliano pissing me off a bit with his constant Southern beats. ID Labs, I found the best out of all the production. Champ Super, The Resource, etc. They weren't bad, just average.
The features were worth being there. Kev Da Hustla (Chevy Woods) was decent and sounded legitimately like a "hustla". Luckily, he'd switch his flow by 2007 to a cool smoother flow. Boaz was weak, and still is today. Vali's contribution to "Sometimes" was strong. Juliano ain't a rapper, and he proved it on "Gotta Be A Star", and S. Money... well... he was alright.
The production, as I said before, was averagely decent. Let me extend my reason by saying in nearly every track I reviewed on this album, I bashed and ranted on the production by saying "this song sounds like this and that", blah blah! From start to finish, there are some inspired beats that are decent, some that were getting annoying. Beats like "Pittsburgh Sound", "Keep The Conversation", "Burn Somethin" and "Never Too Late" were decent, but "Crazy Since The 80s", "Gotta Be A Star", and "Too Late" were weak and boring.
Wiz's hunger is actually brilliant. His bars on "Pittsburgh Sound", "Let 'Em Know", "I Choose You", and "Stay In Your Lane" are some of his best work when it comes to his hunger. His story from the streets to him rapping is interesting, but not every good album has good in every single track. There are many weak spots, and take this album as an example.
If you don't mind the producers trying to fit into the generation of 2006 by making professional beats that sound like Just Blaze, Kanye or a Southern producer or are interested into the hunger of Wiz, then feel free to purchase, download or stream this. I'm a big fan of his old work, especially mixtapes like Prince of the City 2, How Fly, Burn After Rolling and my personal favourite, Kush & Orange Juice; but compared to this, those are some classic material, while this is some average project for a debut; but will, nostalgically, be known for "the Wiz that everybody misses". The album is decent, but they are many weak spots on there. It's your choice...
The Furious 5ive
Sometimes
Let 'Em Know
Burn Sumthin
Never Too Late
Stay In Your Lane
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