by MATT GORDON Editor-in-chief
Rapper Wiz Khalifa is set to start his Under the Influence of Music tour this summer, which includes fellow artisis A$AP Rocky, Joey Bada$$, Trinidad James, Rockie Fresh, and B.o.b. The tour is set to begin on July 5 in Quebec, Canada, and consists of 20 dates.
Three of these tour dates are in the tri-state area. The closest show is August 2 at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, NJ. The other two shows are August 3 and 6, at the First Niagara Pavilion in Burgettstown, PA and the Nikon at Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, NY respectively.
The tour comes after the release of Wiz Khalifa’s album “O.N.I.F.C,” which includes the hit songs “Remember You” featuring The Weeknd and “Work Hard, Play Hard.” The album was critically acclaimed and reached the top spot in both the U.S. Top Hip-Hop and U.S. Top Rap album rankings, while peaking at number two in the Billboard Top 200 rankings. Both top songs peaked in the top 20 of the top rap songs in the U.S. Wiz Khalifa looks to follow his album’s success with a successful tour.
Freshman Jason Gizze says, “I am excited for this tour to come into the area and I think it is going to be a blast. All of the artists are great individually, so having them all on the stage together in one concert is great. Plus they each came out with new songs and albums so it will all be popular music and not so much of their old stuff.”
Along with Wiz Khalifa is rapper A$AP Rocky, who is currently on a stadium tour with Rhianna. A$AP also recently released a new album titled “Long Live A$AP.” The two are co-headlining the tour, so expect tickets to be a hot commodity on the open market.
Ticket sales began in late April for the tour, so begin searching for tickets ASAP (see what I did there….?). With all jokes aside, this tour looks to be very popular and a fun time. All of the artists involved in the tour are proven to put on a good show and have a fun time on stage.
This concert also allows fans to get a look at the relatively unknown artists like Rockie Fresh and Joey Bada$$, who are featured in some of Wiz Khalifa and A$AP Rockys’ songs. Most notably, Joey Bada$$ is featured in A$AP Rocky’s hit song “1Train” along with superstars Kendrick Lamar and Big K.R.I.T.
Rockie Fresh recently released his sixth mixtape “The Birthday Tape,” which was available on April 29. He looks to follow up his success with his first studio album later this year. Hopefully the tour will allow him to receive more attention and make his debut album a hit.