Summer can officially start now that we have the perfect soundtrack from mgk and Wiz Khalifa! They recently dropped a collab mixtape called blog era boyz and are spending the first bit of their own summers on the second North American leg of the lost americana Tour, which now includes a little segment dedicated to their songs together. If you’ve been a fan of these artists for a while, then blog era boyz will feel like a homecoming in the best way possible, celebrating their triumphs and embracing the challenges they’ve gone through along their journeys. They bring such awesome synergy that has really been getting the crowds going at their shows together.
To celebrate the amazing run that mgk and Wiz Khalifa are having right now, let’s look a little closer at some standout lyrics from blog era boyz! We’ll be taking it song by song and spotlighting lines from both Kells and Wiz.
‘family > everything’
mgk: “My day ones are still my managers and my brothers in the band…”
One of the things we love most about mgk is how much he values the chosen family around him! His manager, Ashleigh, started working with him when she was still in college for accounting, and fellow manager Andre Cisco has known him since Kells’ days working in an airbrush shop. His longest-time band members include Slim (producer, music director, and keys player), Baze (producer and bassist), and Rook (drummer).
Wiz Khalifa: “Give her my time, I know that I won’t get it back / Give ‘em responsibility and see how they act…”
‘family > everything’ gets off to a strong start with this intro from Wiz that reminds us to let people prove themselves before trusting them too much. He knows how important family is, even beyond blood-related family, and won’t let just anyone join his inner circle without showing they’re worthy and will give back what he gives them. It also speaks to the power of his friendship with mgk, which has lasted for over a decade! They’ve been supporting each other all along and it has culminated in the blog era boyz mixtape and lost americana Tour run together.
‘everything tatted’
mgk: “Bricks on my stomach, I paid them three hundred / Yatted the area code that I’m from…”
Did we mostly pick this line because of the nostalgia? Maybe, but you can’t blame us! Some of mgk’s most iconic tattoos are the bricks on his stomach and his “216” as an ode to Cleveland, OH. His newer blackout tattoos cover up the 216 and obscure the bricks with stripes, but EST still fondly remembers them and he continues to rep Cleveland wherever he goes.
Wiz Khalifa: “She just got her man’s name on her / She just got an airplane on her / Better than putting a chain on her…”
Tattoos can be a powerful way for people to express themselves and show off what matters most to them! The girl in question inking “her man’s name” shows how deeply she cares about him on her own accord, while the airplane and lack of a metaphorical chain in her life shows how she still values freedom and exploration.
‘MPH’
mgk: “I’m coming for payback and I’m adding interest / I’m about to put prices on all of you b*tches…”
We love it when Kells brings some fiesty energy to a track! When we first heard this line, it reminded us of the iconic “tell all my competition that I love ‘em, but I brought ‘em back just to kill ‘em again” opening from ‘el Diablo,’ which later came back on ‘El Pistolero’ as “tell all my competition I don’t love ‘em, I invite ‘em over to kill ‘em again.” He’s not taking any nonsense this era and we’re soooo here for it.
Wiz Khalifa: “‘F*ck the whole world’ what I’m really on / I don’t need friends no more, I’m making enemies… Be around real ones who keep the same energy…”
Off the tails of ‘family > everything,’ these lyrics give us a peek at what Wiz’s mindset around loyalty and family looks like in practice. He refuses to dim himself for people who won’t even do the bare minimum of being authentic or keeping the same energy behind his back that they’d show to his face. And if that makes him enemies, then so be it! Good on him for standing his ground and knowing he deserves people in his life who give back what he gives them.
‘fill my pockets’
mgk: “I see the world in blue, so I spend green on the things that I couldn’t have / The poppy seeds in bloom / I might break it down, pack it up in a clear bag…”
We chose this lyric as our favorite mgk line on ‘fill my pockets’ because of how vivid the color imagery is! Blue is a color often associated with sadness, while “green” here would be a reference to money – the contrast also shows how earning money and success didn’t change him from seeing the world in blue. Packing up a poppy flower, often loved for their bright red color, would let him enjoy the sight longer and take it with him while killing the flower. Given the fame themes on this song, we think you could see that as a metaphor for the general public enjoying (or despising) his work without really caring what happens to him on a personal level or how being a constant topic of conversation affects his mindset.
Wiz Khalifa: “Wake up, do my best today ‘cause I might not see tomorrow / Gain it all, that’s the price you pay ‘cause they build you up to watch it all fall down…”
We officially have a Wiz sister lyric to “the ones who gas you up only come around when the flame’s on” from mgk’s ‘title track!’ These lines describe some of the ups and downs of fame and how quickly things can fall apart if people turn on you or try to tear you down. It ties in so well to the discussion about the dark side of life in the spotlight and how success doesn’t guarantee happiness.
‘girl next door’
mgk: “Let’s make a movie, me and you under the flashing lights / Crazy kind, you know that’s my type / Show ‘em what some real action’s like / She’s independent, no major…”
If you’ve been an mgk fan for a while, then you probably know that his second professional love aside from music is film! He’s starred in movies like The Dirt, Taurus, and Nerve, and a lot of viewers are impressed that a musician brings so much skill to the screen. “Action” plays on the action movie genre and maybe even the “action!” command that movie directors give on set. “She’s independent, no major” cleverly plays on both the movie and music industries, referencing independently-released films vs. major studios and independent artists vs. major labels.
Wiz Khalifa: “Let’s get over ourselves, be grown about it and talk it out / Live for the moment, let’s change the vibe now…”
Part of what makes the blog era boyz mixtape so special is how nostalgic and youthful it can be, but these lyrics show a new maturity that shows how much Wiz and mgk have truly grown since the blog era. The romantic conflicts on ‘girl next door’ seem to come from the boys and their girls being avoidant and not properly communicating – see the chorus as an example. But here, Wiz is ready to face their problems head-on and move forward together!
‘stoned’
mgk: “Get higher, you could find me on the moon all day and night…”
Beyond the clear wordplay on getting high here – which is similar to Kells’ 2017 track ‘Moonwalkers’ – we couldn’t help but think about the fan-favorite song ‘Kiss The Sky’ when we heard this line. mgk told iHeartRadio that “the best way to describe ‘Kiss the Sky’ would be, ‘don’t be afraid to go search, even if you don’t know what you’re searching for. Let something find you.’” He has consistently gone above and beyond to search for the best versions of himself and his art over the years!
Wiz Khalifa: “Take me away, away from it all / I just want a simple life, but nothing too small….”
Given that blog era boyz came out in the midst of the lost americana era and tour, this lyric reminded us a lot of ‘outlaw overture,’ on which mgk asks someone to “take [him] somewhere cheap, where the living is easy.” Where ‘outlaw overture’ has an escapist feel to it, Wiz’s lines here feel like a middle ground between wanting to run away and staying close to the things he’s earned. With the latter in mind, he can’t truly get away from it… unless the ‘stoned’ title is any indication of how he temporarily deals with the pressures.
‘passport’
mgk: “I’m looking for my other half, tryna become whole like that / My soul’s like that, I’m chose like that / I’m elevating, so you know I gotta wear my clothes like that…”
Does this rhyme scheme sound a little familiar to you? The repetition of “like that” calls back to 2019’s ‘Candy,’ another song that simultaneously touches on fame and the empty feelings that can hide behind a public persona or surface happiness. That last line also gives a little shoutout to mgk’s fashion game, which we’re always down to give more appreciation to!
Wiz Khalifa: “Sun come up, I get up with it / I’d be going even harder if I wasn’t rich / Even at this point, pulling a double shift ‘cause God don’t give you weight you can’t lift…”
With so many hits under his belt already, it’d be totally understandable if Wiz wanted to take a break from the spotlight and enjoy the money and everything he’s earned over the years! But he knows he’s destined for more and we love how much ambition he still shows. The idea that God or the universe, depending what you believe in, only gives you challenges you’re ready to handle can be very empowering during hard moments or times when you’re not sure whether you want to keep working towards a certain goal.
‘grind everyday’
mgk: “Burning this sage, riding this wave / Know where I came from? Minimum wage / I can’t go back, can’t leave it to chance / Riding the bus with a lottery ticket and quarters to scratch…”
mgk never forgets the earliest days of his career, and it makes his work and the journey behind it so relatable to fans around the world who want to make their own dreams come true. These lines alternate between describing the present and the past to show how far he’s really come. Meanwhile, the last lyric about riding the bus and relying on a scratch-off for extra money shows how he used to leave things to chance and luck before he started focusing on his work and the ‘grind.’
Wiz Khalifa: “Every verse like I’m paying the bills / They come around, but how many real? / Probably don’t say how they feel…”
Wiz being able to pay the bills with a single verse speaks to the hustler mindset he puts into his work, as well as just how successful he’s been over the years. He subtly compares counterfeit bills, or money that isn’t “real,” to other people (maybe even artists or rappers specifically) who aren’t as authentic as they let on. He keeps it real and has the cash flow to prove it!
‘fiberglass’
mgk: “Only break I take is for my cigs / I take flights so I can burn a bridge / I got skeletons inside the closets in my crib / I got wounds inside my heart and mind that time can’t fix…”
‘fiberglass’ offers some of the most vulnerable looks at Kells’ mindset on blog era boyz, and these lines are a perfect example. They highlight how he tends to throw himself into his work when he’s struggling, and how getting away from home on tour would allow him to escape his problems for a while. We also love how “I take flights so I can burn a bridge” plays into how a flight would be literally above a bridge (like how he tries to rise above that kind of burn-worthy conflict) and how only ground-based vehicles like cars would need to use an actual bridge. And for the fellow ‘Waste Love’ stans out there, doesn’t the skeleton line remind you of “wanted me to chase you inside but the house too haunted?”
Wiz Khalifa: “Gotta take all of them scars ‘cause you know in time you heal / And then you reveal a new version of self…”
Our final fave Wiz lyrics from blog era boyz remind us that the things we go through shape us and bring us to an evolved version of ourselves! It’s a nice way to close out a project that’s so rooted in nostalgia and addresses personal growth and pains along the way. Wiz and mgk might be the same blog era boyz at heart, but they’ve also been able to evolve both personally and professionally since they came out on the scene.
Did we break down your favorite line from blog era boyz? Which lyrics took you back to the blog era? Let us know in the comments below or hit us up on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter! You can also buzz on over to our Reddit community to chat with us.
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