They all say the life of a kid whose parents are in the military is more interesting than that of a kid who grows up with civilian parents. Maybe it’s the shuffling from one city to the next when their parents are transferred to a different base. Or it could be the simple fact that exposure to life on and around a military base in places like Germany for a year and Japan the next is going to have an influence, especially on a kid.

Cameron Jibril Thomaz, aka Wiz Khalifa, was born on September 8th, 1987. A rapper from Pittsburgh, Wiz has released two hit-making hip-hop albums in 2006 and 2009. Growing up with miliary parents, he’s seen the world and hasn’t always had the easiest life. His interest in music, especially hip-hop, has helped guide him through some of the daily challenges he has faced. Jay Z and Notorious B.I.G are his two primary influences.

He released his first mixtape called “Prince of the City: Welcome To Pistolvania” in 2005. Thousands of listeners received his music well and his first album, “Show and Prove,” was released the following year. “Rolling Stone” magazine mentioned Wiz as an artist to watch in 2006.

Khalifa put out a few more mixtapes with the Rostrum label on Warner Brothers Records. His first single, “Say Yeah,” reached #25 on the Billboard “Rhythmic Top 40” and #20 on the Billboard’s “Hot Rap Tracks.” He enjoys sampling music from a wide variety of artists including Girl Talk and Underworld and has used those samples in his work.

He appeared with several well-known rappers at a Summer Jam in the USANA Amphitheatre in Utah in 2008 and even more mixtapes were released in 2008 and 2009 (“Star Power” and “Flight School”).

Wiz left Warner Brothers in late July of 2009 after several delays in the release of his second album. He wanted to go with a record company that was more willing to work with him and his schedule and felt that Warner Brothers was giving him a raw deal.

He released “Teach U To Fly” on the “How Fly” mixtape with Rostrum where he collaborated with Curren$y, a rapper based out of New Orleans, in August. In the song, Khalifa raps and sings. He raps over the beats of Beyonce’s “If I Were A Boy” and “Diva” on a mixtape called “Burn After Rolling.” He also opened for U-God at the 2009 CMJ Music Marathon in New York City.

“Deal or No Deal,” his second album, was released in late November. Khalifa posted videos on Youtube and streaming live web casts on Ustream to promote his new release. With over 40,000 followers on his Twitter page currently, Wiz has become a huge phenomenon in the rap industry with 50 songs released in 2009 alone. And with his recent album reaching the top ten albums on iTunes the same week it was released, it’s no wonder.