The Hottest Breakout Stars of 2011

T o hear Wiz Khalifa tell it, it didn’t take long to come up with the hook to his career-making hit, “Black and Yellow.” “It wasn’t even 10 seconds,” says the Pittsburgh rapper, 23. “When I heard the da-na-na-na da-na-na-na, ‘black and yellow’ was the first thing that came into my head.” Since its release last September, the song – produced by Norwegian chart rockers Stargate (whose credits include Beyoncé and Katy Perry) has racked up 2.3 million sales, hit Number One on the Hot 100 and been freestyled over by everyone from Lil Wayne to Tom Hanks’ son. Thanks to Khalifa’s hometown Steelers’ Super Bowl run (their uniform colors inspired the track), Wiz has performed at the AFC Championship game and gotten spins from Oakland to New Jersey.