Move over, Psy: why Wiz Khalifa is the new king of YouTube | Music

Move over, Psy: why Wiz Khalifa is the new king of YouTube | Music

Name: Wiz Khalifa.

Real name: Cameron Thomaz.

Age: 29.

Appearance: Thin rapper, dreadlocks, almost completely covered in tattoos.

He’ll regret that at job interviews when he’s older. I doubt he’ll need to go to job interviews ever again, to be honest. He is a very successful musician. He also sells his own brand of cannabis, Khalifa Kush.

How enterprising. If you were a bit younger you would know all about Khalifa, because his song See You Again (featuring Charlie Puth) was a massive hit a couple of years ago, topping the charts for weeks all over the world.

Who is Charlie Puth? He co-wrote and co-produced the song, and sings half of it.

But he only gets a minor credit? He’s less famous than Khalifa. That’s showbiz. Anyway, See You Again has now surpassed even Psy’s Gangnam Style to become the most-watched video on YouTube with … 2,895,724,605 views.

Hang on. It says 2,895,733,802 when I look at it. Yes, it is going up quite fast. Poor old Gangnam Style only has 2,894,530,989.

See You Again

Pathetic. But what has Khalifa made that could possibly be more successful than a novelty Korean pop song? A tear-jerking movie power ballad. See You Again was not just any song, it was written specifically as a tribute to the actor Paul Walker, to be included on the soundtrack to Furious 7, the stupendously successful film that he was working on when he died in a high-speed car accident.

So we’re going back to the 1990s, the land of (Everything I Do) I Do it For You, I Will Always Love You, and My Heart Will Go On? That’s right. But Khalifa brings it up to date.

With some rapping? That’s right. And it is a duet between two men of different races, in different styles, echoing the relationship between Walker and Vin Diesel that runs through the Fast & Furious franchise, scenes from which are cut into the video. It is very clever and well done. Plus, of course, it’s a catchy tune.

Do say: “Why can’t a song about the importance of road safety get 2.9bn views?”

Don’t say: “You don’t really understand young people, do you?”

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