Wiz Khalifa Graces the Cover of Rolling Stone Magazine

The last year has been pretty successful for Wiz Khalifa, and now the Pittsburgh native's popularity has landed him the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. The 23-year-old was first featured in the magazine back in 2007 as one of 40 artists to watch, but this time around, Mr. 'Black and Yellow' is taking the crown as "Hip-Hop's Rookie of the Year." Although the mag has yet to officially announce its newest cover, Khalifa will split the honor with reality star Nicole "Snookie" Polizzi of the 'Jersey Shore.'

Khalifa had been largely under the mainstream radar, leading to the release of his 'Kush & O.J.' mixtape last April. He promoted the mixtape by using social networking sites to his advantage, propelling the release to become a trending topic on Twitter. "I've been working for a long time," Khalifa told The BoomBox. "I've been putting out mixtapes forever."

Despite landing a deal with Warner Brothers, the rapper's debut studio album was never released due to "creative differences," prompting him to reconstruct his own grassroots movement using technology as a marketing tool. He signed with Atlantic Records, and his hard work appears to be paying off as Khalifa's hit single 'Black and Yellow' stands at No. 18 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart after peaking in the No. 1 spot.

Be on the lookout for Khalifa's major label debut, 'Rolling Papers,' when it hits stores March 29.

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