Pittsburgh-based rapper Khalifa arrested during N.C. show
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
By Jim McKinnon, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Pittsburgh rap artist Wiz Khalifa began tweeting almost as soon as he was released from a North Carolina jail this morning following his arrest Monday night during a show on the campus of East Carolina University.

"[W]akin'. . . bakin' . . . wrist still achin'," the 23-year-old rapper, whose real name is Cameron Jibril Thomaz, tweeted at about 9 a.m. after he was released from the Pitt County Detention Center near the campus.

Khalifa appeared this morning in a District Court in Greenville, N.C., to, among other things, seek to have his $300,000 bond reduced and to pay bail money for members of his entourage who were also arrested.

The arrests came after campus police raided his tour bus and found about two ounces of marijuana.

Before the raid, Khalifa was heard saying that he liked to get high before performing. He said it was "not abnormal" for him to spend $10,000 a month on marijuana.

Hours before the show, he tweeted, ". . . smoke outs in Greenville nc tonite. fall thru wit ur finest plant life."

Some news reports said the show was stopped 45 minutes into the program and after he announced his fondness for cannabis.

Court records in North Carolina show he is charged with trafficking in marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of pot in his mobile residence.

Police found 57.5 grams of marijuana on the bus, according to court records.

The rap sensation and Allderdice High School graduate has been on the 60-city Waken Baken tour since mid-September. The single "Black and Yellow," from his forthcoming Atlantic/Rostrum debut, is No. 43 on the Billboard Hot 100 and is receiving airplay on Top 40 stations, including Pittsburgh's Kiss-FM (96.1)

He's scheduled to play sold-out shows at the new Stage AE venue on the North Side on Dec. 16 and 17.

#freewiz is the No. 1 trending topic on Twitter this morning.

In response to the Twitter traffic, Wiz tweeted, "man, jail sux! but bein taylor'd doesn't," which appears to be a reference to his fan site, dubbed The Taylor Gang.

As for his posse on tour, Wiz tweeted this morning, "finna get tha rest of these fools out and grab sum grub."