Wiz Khalifa makes no secret that he’s been high for a long time, but never as high as he is now with his chart-topping single, “Black and Yellow.” The Pittsburgh, Pa., based rapper who once claimed to spend $10,000 a month on weed, will release his aptly titled album, Rolling Papers, on March 29th.

Photo by Sean Berry

When SF Station asked Wiz whether it would concern him if critics saw him as a rapper who only rapped about women and weed, he quickly responded “No because if they plan on growing with me as an artist they’ll see how deep my music goes.” His growing “Taylor Gang” (named in light of Wiz Khalifa’s liking of Converse’s Chuck Taylor All-Star shoes) fan base suggests that listeners hear his depth. On a promotional tour supporting Rolling Papers, SF Station spoke with Wiz Khalifa about his public image.

SF Station (SFS): During the first performance I saw of yours a punk band played before you. Do you often play show with multiple genres?

Wiz Khalifa (WK): Totally. I have such a wide fan base with my audience. I listen to all types of music, so I can connect with all types of fans. That’s the good thing about my fans and the music that I make because it spreads pretty wide.

SFS: How did your audience grow so much? What separates you from other hip hop artists?

WK: I’m just a big fan of music in general, so I put a lot of different elements in music that people might not hear right off the back, but if you’re a fan of different types of music you might catch it.

SFS: I first discovered you on Hype Machine because it seemed you might have strategically reached out to the indie crowd by sampling Empire Of the Sun?

WK: It wasn’t anything calculated or anything. I heard this song and I thought it was really tight. As a rapper, if I like a song I want to rap over it, and cross it over to individuals who I know are just like me who listen to rap music, pop, indie rock and everything.

SFS: I guess I didn’t mean calculated, but from what I’ve read about you’ve seemed to have had an idea of where you wanted to be and how to get there.

WK: I just have an idea of who I am. The steps that I took to get there, we just had to be careful with what I did. We put it together so it looks a certain way, but at the end of the day, time and just placement were really important.

SFS: Who would you say you, Wiz Khalifa, are as as an image to the public?

WK: I would just say that I’m a really positive guy, spontaneous, and you never know what to expect, but it will never be anything negative.

SFS: With Rolling Papers coming out does the album come with papers?

WK: No it doesn’t, but you can get papers separately.

Rolling Papers will be released on March 29^th from Atlantic Records.

• Tag: Interviews, Marijuana, Q&A, Wiz Khalifa