Wiz Khalifa Apologizes To DJ Community For Explosive Onstage Rant: 'I Got Emotional'
Wiz Khalifa has apologized for snapping on two DJs during a recent performance in Los Angeles.
In a special edition of The Breakfast Club, DJ Drama and DJ Envy sat down with Wiz who offered a sincere apology for his behavior at Poppy nightclub on Friday (July 29).
“First of all, I want to apologize to all the DJs in the entire DJ community for my behavior,” Wiz began. “I do realize that it was a bit much and I’m big enough man to be like, ‘Yo, that shouldn’t have happened, that shouldn’t go down. That’s not how business gets handled and that’s not how you get your point across.’ I apologize sincerely. I didn’t want to piss anybody off.”
Wiz Khalifa — who was at Poppy for his Multiverse album release party — continued by detailing his side of the story, explaining he “walked into a whole situation.”
“I was booked to be at Poppy for my album release that night,” he said. “It was officially my night. My set was to be five songs. We prepared the set and we put it on the flash drive […] When it came time to be my set, the songs that was gave to him on the flash drive, it was just a real issue with the timing.”
Khalifa said he tried to communicate to DJ Mikey Danger it “wasn’t going right” but as the set continued, it “got even more unprofessional” and he started to get frustrated.
“Songs were playing in the middle of my songs,” he said. “It was really frustrating. I got emotional. I showed my emotions. That’s mainly what you see in the video.
“I was definitely out of line and touching the young man’s hat and doing what some people would consider assaulting a DJ. That’s not in my character and that’s not how I handle things. That’s not excusable. It’s not defendable in any way, shape or form.”
Wiz Khalifa said he’s attempted to get in touch with Mikey Danger to no avail. One of his goals is to “personally apologize” to him for how he acted. He’s hoping to be forgiven but understands if certain DJs still want to boycott his music.
Mikey Danger shared an Instagram post about the incident earlier in the week.
“What happened at Poppy last Friday was very unfortunate and I’m still internally processing everything that was said and done to myself and my team,” he wrote. “We love what we do and will always work to create a great experience at these parties for everyone in attendance.
“As someone who was raised in Los Angeles, who built a career to entertain the people of my city, I’ll continue to work with my team and promoters so that the city continues to have a safe outlet to unwind and vibe to dope music.”
He concluded: “At the end of the day, we’re all artists and we can find ways to work together respectfully to curate these moments for our fans and community. So, as much as what happened was not okay, I’m going to keep it moving with the hopes that we can eventually move forward from this experience with civility and love.”
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Following Wiz’s onstage tantrum, the DJ community voiced its outrage. In addition to DJ Rob Swift of the X-ecutioners, Kid Capri went off on Khalifa and said he wouldn’t have been so understanding if he was the person on the decks that night.
“When I met you, you was a cool dude, man. That’s why I’m a little surprised why you would disrespect those DJs like that,” Capri said. “Those kids is young dudes, probably, you know, scared and nervous that they playing for you, happy that they’re playing for you. [They’re] probably not as professional and on-point as you are, but for you to stand up there and disrespect them like that, man, that was just crazy.”
Kid Capri then referenced his recent Breakfast Club interview, where he talked about the lack of respect some DJs have faced over the years and how they’ve often been viewed as just someone who plays records behind an artist.
“It be stuff like this [Wiz incident] that minimizes what the DJ is,” continued Capri. “I don’t know if you was lit or drunk, or whatever the case may be, but if that was me and you spoke to me like that, I’d have swung on you right away. Immediately. And we would have dealt with it however we’d have to deal with afterwards. But I wouldn’t have went for that.
OG Ron C was among a number of Houston artists who declared a boycott against Wiz Khalifa.
On Tuesday (August 2), the Chopped and Screwed legend shared a statement originally posted by DJ Jack Frost. “Houston Concert Promoters Don’t Bring Wiz Khalifa,” the statement begins. “All DJs Stop Playing His Music That Could Have Been You Or Me. Cancel His Azz.”
Ron C captioned the Instagram post: “TOGETHER WE STAND #djsunited”