@YouTheReader you may recognize this song because it is in the background of a ton of Corona “Find Your Beach” commercials. Yes, I still have “Walking on a Dream” by Empire of the Sun in my Back Pocket for later, this version is half Wiz Khalifa. We will live in a society where rules are rules. This was a song my friends & I would listen to back in high school as well as a bit in college.
I sound like a broken record with this sentiment, but every pub I stumble into is an absolute thrill. I never know who I’ll meet or what we’ll talk about.
I do that a bit by myself while I’m Stumblin’ Along.
Sorry for heading back to the river for this but to quote Dan Katz, “I bet ya they called you Tommy in Little League. Now you’re just Tom or Thomas. Good name. Tank engine that just keeps going up the f***** hill full of Stella Blue Coffee Club.”
Guinness, Wiz, Guinness. I don’t really drink champagne anymore, but then again I do listen to a lot of @ChampagnePapi…
Wiz Khalifa
Cameron Jibril Thomaz or also known as Wiz Khalifa was born on September 8, 1987, in Minot, North Dakota, U.S. of A. His parents split up when he was around 3 and they served in the military so he was a military brat always on the move growing up based on wherever his parents’ station base was based. He spent time in Germany, the UK, & Japan before he and his mother ended up in Pittsburgh during his high school years. The first time he committed pen to paper on lyrics was at age 9 and by 12 years old he was in recording&producing his own records at his father’s Oklahoma studio. (Source: All Music) By practicing his craft at a young age, by the time he was a senior in high school he drew some national buzz.
@YouTheReader rap mixtapes are basically albums that typically are compilations of beats from another source. For instance, The Thrill was created by Empire By The Sun, Wiz Khalifa felt inspired by the melody so he rapped over it. Most rappers, when first starting off especially, use this practice because it is an ad homage to what music/artist they enjoy with their own spin on the beat&melody.
For this Stumblin’ Along, we’re going to completely gloss over the fact that Wiz Khalifa’s “Black & Yellow” was the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Playoff Anthem of ‘10 (the year a no-name WR named Antonio Brown ended the Revis&Rex Jets Super Bowl hopes). It was another hit song that contributed to Wiz’s rise.
Instead, we’ll focus on his Fairytale in NY from ‘09…
Wiz Khalifa caught a huge break when he opened for one of the Wu-Tang Clan members called U-God at the 2009 CMJ Music Marathon in NYC. Prior to his trip to NYC, Khalifa seems to have mainly performed only in the Pittsburgh area. His career really took off from here as he started touring all over the country. He made another hit song that my friends would listen to called “Young, Wild, & Free” with a rapper you may have heard of named Snoop Dogg. His rap style is very lax, he is a self-described stoner, but he worked his ass off in the studio to get to where he is now. On 12/12 in ‘12, Pittsburgh City Council gave Wiz Khalifa his own Day, declaring it Wiz Khalifa Day in Pittsburgh.
If you go to his Spotify popular page, you also may recognize the song “See You Again” with Charlie Puth which was his contribution to the soundtrack for Furious 7 and became one of the biggest hits of ‘15 and was a tribute to the actor Paul Walker, "See You Again.” Although he may not be releasing as much new music as he once did, he happened to just release a new song of his own called Khalifa Mode this past Friday, just a random happenstance because I chose The Thrill for this Sunday over two weeks ago while I was stumblin’ to the Empire State Building.
@YouTheReader I bet you weren’t expecting to get a Wiz Khalifa bio after reading along about J.R. Cash last week. Well, hopefully, it was a bit of a surprise.
The context for this Stumblin’ Along on a Dream…
Quick Excerpt from Pint&Pen&Paper Week 5 (Vol. I).
“After having a great talk at Grisly Pear, I wasn’t all that eager to have another pint right away…
Instead, I just saw the Empire State Building with the clouds…
…Stumbled under the Washington Square Arch…
…Became more fixated with the Empire State Building…
…I always love staring at the building and the only time I’ve ever been inside I was only a baby…
…It got cloudy from the time I started walking towards it, still one helluva view once you’re up there…
…Cover Photo Obviously…
…Sorry for sightseeing in the middle of #GuinnesChallengeSeason…
Empire State Building
Alright, so as I alluded to while writing that Pen&Pen&Paper, that Friday I was in the office when I actually had the day off. I didn’t realize this until around 10 AM, so rather than just taking the bus back to Hoboken, I decided to Stumble Around NYC. I had a very cool experience at Grisley Pear and was feeling a bit like Ferris Bueller on his day off so decided to head to a spot that I’ve always been mesmerized at but haven’t been to since I was in a stroller…
Back in the late 19th Century, Fifth Avenue was known as Millionaires Row. The original Waldorf-Astoria Hotel was the spot to stay at in NYC at the time. Royal princes from that time would stay there and it also regularly attracted the likes of Andrew Carnegie who would attend and host fundraising dinners&balls there. In 1928, the hotel was sold to Bethlehem Engineering Corporation for an estimated $20 million. The hotel would be demolished and the piece of property would become the site of the most famous building project in world history.
The primary people behind the construction of the Empire State Building were John J. Raskob and Al Smith. Raskob was a self-made business mogul who financed General Motors. Al Smith was a politician who actually lost the 1928 U.S. presidential election to Herbert Hoover. The architects behind the design of the building were Shreve, Lamb & Harmon Associates. On August 29, 1929, Raskob (the main finance) and Smith (the public face politician) announced their plans for the record-breaking building. The group backed by a GM man was set to overtake the Chrysler Buildings’ top spot as the largest building in the world.
@YouTheReader did you know that the Empire State Building sort of represents a proxy war between the American Motor Industry of yesteryear?
In between the unveiling of Empire State Building drawings and when steel was first laid on the NYC ground, this thing called the Stock Market crashed in October of 1929. The Great Depression began. As you know, many during this time struggled to find work. The Empire State Building was a very important source of jobs in NYC.
Quick Intermission of some of Lewis Hine’s black&white pics before my closing statement on what I Stumbled Along upon…
The official number of workers who built this building is a bit undocumented, but it is well-known that Irish Americans played a central role in its construction. (Source: Irish Central) The Irish in America at the time faced their own hardships so a risky job like constructing the largest building in the world when there were no safety standards was never given a second thought. These men were more than willing to do whatever it took so they could provide food on the table for their families during the Great Depression. We don’t get to look up at this sight to behold without the men who put in the work with their bare hands and had a set of cojones to look down at certain death.
@YouTheReader am I being a bit dramatic? I left out another small detail that I should’ve mentioned above. The Empire State Building started construction on March 17, 1930. That date is also known as Saint Patrick’s Day. I don’t expect everybody who sees the Empire State Building to think about Irish Americans and I understand that all this Irish talk may be a turn-off to those who aren’t Irish. That said, everybody is a bit Irish on Saint Patrick’s Day and there’s no need to apply to enjoy yourself while having a pint of Guinness. I don’t know about you but I still always get The Thrill from looking up at the Empire State Building.
So with great pride, I hope I provided some facts as to why it’s said…
The Irish Built This City.
Alright, I’m going to go grab a pint, do a mock draft, and watch the Super Bowl. Cheers!!