By MARIA SHERMAN AP Music Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — Who understood the cool kids better than Wiz Khalifa? In 2010, the easygoing Pittsburgh rapper released his breakout mixtape “Kush + Orange Juice,” crafting the ideal soundtrack for stylish stoners — breezy songs about girls and weed broadcast through his generously enunciated flow.
For those paying attention, mass commercial appeal was all but assured. Just five years later he’d release the diamond-selling “See You Again” with singer Charlie Puth for the “Furious 7” film, one of the biggest songs of the decade.
“A lot of artists who, you know, stick to what originally made them, them — they don’t get the opportunity to make a hit song like that,” he told The Associated Press. “So, I really feel blessed and grateful to have songs like that under my belt.”
Now, a decade from “See You Again” and 15 years removed from “Kush + Orange Juice,” he’s gearing up to release a sequel, “Kush + Orange Juice 2,” out Friday. Leading up to the album, Khalifa started dropping freestyles — a nostalgic return to his early career days, the era where discovering hot new records meant scouring rap blogs and SoundCloud. Listeners ate it up.
“It’s just something I just kept doing for my fans and for the people who support me,” he said of the freestyles. “That really sparked the fire and just let me know that there was a demand for that again.”
Khalifa was already working on “Kush + Orange Juice 2” when he started releasing the freestyles, but the interest from his fans certainly helped embolden the project. He wanted to tap into the feel-good nature of the original.
“The excitement for it came from what the music actually does for people or what it reminds them of,” he explained. “I think they get a feeling of some of the best times and some of the most fun and important times. And if you want that now, then you’re gonna turn my music on and I’m gonna give you something new for you to have those same experiences.”
And there are similarities: The radio skit of the first mixtape endures on the second, but most importantly, there is a shared lackadaisical cool — from the smooth melodicism of “5 Star” to the anthemic “Khalifa’s Home” — accomplished with the help of some robust features: Gunna, Don Toliver, DJ Quick, Juicy J, Ty Dolla $ign, Terrace Martin, Curren$y and more.
“Everyone who’s involved with it … they’re really close to what the origin of the actual ‘Kush + Orange Juice’ story. So, it just makes sense, and it just makes the story even bigger,” he says.
In a song near the end of the new album, “Super Duper High Outro,” Khalifa suggests there may be a third installment in the “Kush + Orange Juice” series. “If we wanna do number three, we’ll do number three,” he says on the track. “I’ll see y’all in 10 years, man.”
“We’ll keep it going,” he says of the series. “Just keep it going nonstop.”
But for now, he wants people to connect with “Kush + Orange Juice 2” like they did with the first one.
“I just hope that they need this in their life, and that this is the perfect thing to come at the perfect time,” he says of the album. It certainly doesn’t hurt that it’s releasing 4/20 weekend.