Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Īttorney, local television personality Professor of Chemistry, Stanford University Professor and cancer biologist, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sportscaster and announcer, Pittsburgh Steelers, WTAE-TV, and WTAE-AM Musician, arranger, bandleader, and film composer Notable alumni Nameīronze medalist, 1948 Summer Olympics Department of Education in 1994, 1995, and 1996. Then Wiz starts rapping again.Allderdice was designated a National Blue Ribbon School by the U.S.
It is legitimately as good as anything Air France ever did. After a verse from Wiz, the song slips into beachside ambience, ice-rattle drums, and plaintive pianos. It sounds pointless except that the interlude is easily the most enjoyable moment of the record. Maybe the album's most indicative track is "No Limit", which is nearly nine and a half minutes long thanks to a three-minute instrumental interlude. The album's acronym stands for "Only Nigga in First Class" and sports a dour looking photo of Khalifa on the cover, but it's difficult to find any significance in either- he hints at fatigue, but doesn't illuminate the flipside of stardom in any way. suggests ignorance regarding his own distance instead of a conscious desire to roll with the vibes. Wiz has never exactly spit quotable 16s but his rapping on O.N.I.F.C. He could- and just may- pump music out for the indefinite future that coasts on sound design and little else. He is there because he has to be, not because he should be.Įverything from there on is just an unending succession of diminishing returns that questions the relevancy of Khalifa's artistic existence. Khalifa doesn't say anything of note- "riding in my ride" is crushingly emblematic - and doesn't sound particular good from a technical standpoint. The problem, though, is that both songs would work best as zone-out instrumentals. The album kicks off with a suite of tracks that are meant to wash over you, and they are undoubtedly effective- "Paperbond" is steeped in the comforting draft of chillwave while "Bluffin'", produced by Drumma Boy no less, borders on balearic. which tosses a Blanco produced single to the dogs but then retracts further into his vaporized aesthetic. Khalifa has already more or less disowned his debut, telling his fans that "creatively wasn't my best work." That regret is evident on O.N.I.F.C. Both mixtapes were right in his lane, and they predicted the direction Khalifa would take with the album proper. Cabin Fever 2, from October, saw Khalifa dipping into L.A.'s ratchet scene to show just how much artists like Iamsu! owe to his own mix of nonsense rapping and soft, blissed-out singing. His Taylor Allderdicemixtape from March was a nice stopgap release, steeped in the same foggy, washed out beats that helped elevate him to fame. will quickly be swept under the rug by anyone but his true diehards, yet Khalifa still had a successful year by displaying his malleability. Or maybe he couldn't bring himself to care about the fragile nature of crossover success any longer.