The forgotten rapper Wiz Khalifa named as his favourite: “I love his attitude”
Wiz Khalifa is a unique emcee from ‘Black & Yellow’ to ‘On My Level’, fans can hear a lot of different influences in his music. Having collaborated with the likes of Snoop Dogg, Too $hort and Ty Dolla $ign, one would assume that Khalifa grew up on West Coast hip-hop. However, during an interview, the Pittsburgh rhymer revealed one of his favourite MCs, and it is one of New York’s forgotten rappers.
While speaking on Hotboxin’ With Mike Tyson, Wiz unveiled that he is a fan of Max B to this day. Paying homage to the ‘Wave God’, Wiz Khalifa stated, “I love his attitude. He just had a really dope, just real in-your-face, real confidence. I looked up to that. I look up to his melodies – like how he mixed melody and rap. And his consistency, too.”
Speaking about his love for Max B’s discography, Wiz detailed, “Dude had like 28 mixtapes before he went to jail. At that point in my life, it was like, that’s a dude that I can relate to because I’m like, man, I’m tryna go that hard too. I want to be in peoples’ faces too.”
The Pittsburgh native explained how the Harlem rapper influenced not just him but also other artists like Curren$y, disclosing, “I’m that confident about my music as well. He was like, really still an underground artist but people like me and Curren$y and a couple other people, we really gravitated towards him and seen the polish in all of that.”
Max B is currently incarcerated in Northern State Prison, charged with murder, conspiracy and robbery. Last year, French Montana claimed that Max B was set to be released in April 2023 and took to social media to proclaim the good news. He also released a song from behind bars with DJ Drama titled ‘Lemonade’.
Montana’s post on X read: “MY BROTHER WAS FACING 75 YEARS .. HE TOLD ME TO TELL YALL HE’LL BE HOME IN APRIL!! SILVER SURFER Live from the can. Free the Count. “LEMONADE” VIDEO .. Coke Boys 6 OUT NOW ON ALL PLATFORMS.”
French Montana’s post was also accompanied by a video of the incarcerated emcee speaking on the phone. “It’s Max Biggaveli. French, what’s good, my ni**a? I’m coming, baby. I’m on they ass,” he said. “Boy looking good, I’m working, got the weight off of me, the weight is up. It’s ‘Lemonade,’ baby, it’s the video. Get ready for it. French Monbega, owww! I love you, beloved. You killin’ them out here.”
Despite all of that excitement, he remains behind bars and, for now, is still serving the 20-year sentence that was handed to him in 2016 after he accepted a plea deal. He is set to be released in November 2025.