| Photo: Billboard.com |
| Wiz Khalifa’s mugshot: The rising young rapper was busted for pot after a concert Monday night in North Carolina. |
Wiz Khalifa, the Pittsburgh MC whose star is rapidly rising in hip-hop circles, was arrested on marijuana charges Monday night after a performance at Eastern Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina.
Wiz is charged with trafficking marijuana, maintaining a dwelling for a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. According to his lawyer, Khalifa was found with under two ounces of cannabis, reports WITN.
Nine other individuals were also arrested on the same charges. While Wiz and his tour manager, William Dzomback, posted bond at 8 a.m. Tuesday, the other seven remained behind bars.
At least two of those seven are rappers with connections to Khalifa, and two others have written songs with him.
University police claimed they seized “about a thousand dollars worth” of marijuana on the rapper’s bus. Officers claimed they smelled the odor of marijuana coming from the tour bus and that’s when they “started their investigation.”
Khalifa has been open about his cannabis use, with literally dozens of pot references in his songs, and also on the reality show MTV News’ Hotttest Breakthrough MC.
Wiz, whose given name is Cameron Thomaz, enjoyed particularly big success this year with the release of his Kush & Orange Juice mix tape, which was of course named after a potent strain of marijuana.
Khalifa bragged in a recent interview that he spends about $10,000 a month on cannabis, reports Steven Roberts at MTV News. He has also launched his own brand of rolling papers.
His house is called “The Bakery,” his current tour is named the Waken Baken Tour, and he typically tweets as he is “waking and baking” every morning.
Just before his arrest, Wiz tweeeted “Smoke outs in Greenville NC tonite. Fall thru wit ur finest plant life,” reports Jason Lipshutz at Billboard.com.
“Man, jail sux!” he tweeted following his release Tuesday morning, November 9 on $300,000 bail.
But he was apparently undeterred from his pot smoking, tweeting “waken… baken… wrist still achin. thnx for tha love and support.”
According to MTV News, Wiz’s rapid rise makes him “one of the most noticeable” musicians who are open about their cannabis use.
When asked if he thought the plethora of pot references in his lyrics could influence fans to smoke marijuana, he equivocated.
“I don’t say, ‘You, get up and do that,’ ” Khalifa said. “I said that’s what I do, and I tell you what I do while I’m doing it. I’m not trying to push drugs on anybody.”
“I thought weed was bad for a minute,” Wiz said. “When I was younger, I thought it was bad, but I got to a point where it worked for me. It didn’t work for everybody else. People gotta stay free, people need jobs, people got parents that probably wouldn’t be with it, so don’t ruin your life trying to be like me. That’s my advice.”
Khalifa does favor marijuana legalization, though.
“Definitely, legalize it,” he said. “Please, everybody needs it. The world would be a better place.”
In this video of the arrest posted by Nah Right, students can be heard booing the cops taking Khalifa into custody and yelling “Free Wiz!” and “Smoke weed every day.”