Wiz Khalifa

At nineteen years old, with one indie album under his belt, Wiz Khalifa may already be the biggest hip-hop star to come out of Pittsburgh, although he doesn't have a lot of competition. "Yeah, the scene's a little scarce," concedes the MC. Khalifa aims to up the city's profile with his debut, Show and Prove. After tiny Rostrum Records released it in September, the album spread by word of mouth, becoming a mainstay on college radio and earning slavish attention from tastemakers like okayplayer.com and XXL magazine. Now major labels are calling, but Khalifa isn't ready to sign. "We're focused on doing our independent thing," he says. "We're trying to build a foundation so we can stay on our own."

SOUND Khalifa's limber, versatile flow shifts forms from track to track, recalling his favorite MCs. There's the drawl of Memphis' Three 6 Mafia and the stalking, clipped verses of Wu-Tang Clan, but most often he recalls the hyperspeed syncopated rhymes of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. The beats are as diverse and colorful as Khalifa's rhymes, from the upbeat G-Funk of "Pittsburgh Sound" to the stark horns of "I'm Gonna Ride" to the cheeky "Keep the Conversation," which is built on double-time samples of Billy Joel's "Leave a Tender Moment Alone."

NONSENSE Khalifa says the trick to fitting a ton of syllables into a single measure is to focus on the rhythmic flow rather than the actual words. "I listen to the beat first, then mumble a pattern that might sound good, then make little syllables and noises that will fit in the spots between the music," says Khalifa. "Then I put words to it."

MAN OF THE WORLD Though Khalifa calls Pittsburgh home, he's more of a global citizen. "I was born in North Dakota," he admits, explaining that, since both of his parents were in the military, he alternated between living in Pittsburgh and in England, Germany and Japan. "In Japan, there were a lot of hip-hop fans," says Khalifa. "They listen to conscious stuff like Wu and Talib Kweli, which amazed me because they couldn't understand the lyrics. Mostly, I remember that it was really busy and crowded. The whole time, I wished I was back in Pittsburgh."