Hell, Wiz even proved to be an influential factor in the art of social media marketing, as his early utilization of platforms like Twitter and live streaming made him a guinea pig for a lot of the modern marketing tactics that we see labels and artists use now. Simply put, Wiz’s style, both on the mic and off, quickly set a standard for creatives and other artists to congregate toward, marking him as one of music’s most underrated culture-shifters of the last decade or so.Įven further, beyond the influence that Wiz has had on a national and even international scale, his unwavering devotion to Pittsburgh, in particular, perfectly shows why Wiz embodies the idea of a “hometown hero.” The best example of this is with “Black and Yellow,” when the Pittsburgh representative put on for his city and not only made the soundtrack for Pittsburgh sports, but also turned a song meant for the city to rally behind into a bona fide hit, taking over mainstream charts in the process. Especially when he first came out, Wiz’s lanky, tattooed build and effortlessly cool stoner lifestyle made him a genuinely alluring artist, and while his personal style (snapbacks, the dyed patch of hair, etc.) was worthy of mention, the music was there to back it all up. Pittsburgh’s own, the Taylor Gang representative himself, Wiz Khalifa, is one of the rare talents who comes around and entirely shifts the culture in both of the aforementioned ways. Whether it be sonically - changing the sounds that artists use and often creating some sort of new trend and/or subgenre in the process - or aesthetically - changing the “cool” styles in music and the lifestyles that artists speak about in their songs - influence can arrive packaged as a quick viral moment or a lasting flame, both of which hold value in their own rights. In the music world, influence manifests itself in many different ways.

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