Connor Gillooly ’14 | Arts & Entertainment Editor

Following up a mixtape dropped in the fall of 2011, rapper Wiz Khalifa released “Cabin Fever 2” on Oct. 16.

Featured on the album are 14 songs, hosting appearances by Problem, French Montana, Chevy Woods, and most notably, Juicy J. This free collection precedes his sophomore album “O.N.I.F.C.”, set to release Dec. 4.

Listeners are quick to hear debatably the worst song on “Cabin Fever 2″, “MIA.” “MIA” starts off with some words from a cocky DJ with a terribly annoying laugh and is followed by an incredibly rotten chorus and a feeble verse from both Wiz Khalifa and Juicy J. Seemingly, the main point of this song is to highlight that he represents his hometown, Pittsburgh, along with about a dozen other cities in the United States. Even as Wiz banks on his “street” style, he clearly aims to reach out to everyone and anyone with his song “MIA.”

Early on in “Cabin Fever 2”, a new style from Wiz can be sensed. The outgoing, quirky, casual guy has been replaced by a relatively bland superstar eager to please all. All one can do is reminisce about the old Wiz Khalifa, the one when the only other name heard on the track was Johnny Juliano.

Before a decent song can be heard, a person has to listen to three (yes, three) more sub-par Juicy J verses. Arriving at the eighth song on the track list, listeners get a dose of some retro Wiz. “Bout That” does not feature anyone else, and has a great instrumental along with a few strong verses from the man himself.

“Deep Sleep”, “100 Bottles”, and “Nothin’ Like the Rest” wrap up the mixtape and are decent, at best. In these songs, consistent with the others on “Cabin Fever 2”, Wiz Khalifa differs from his usual and blandly raps about doing hard drugs with Juicy J. This is not the Wiz that most people are used to hearing.

“Cabin Fever 2” does not exhibit the feeling that it was a hearty, artistic statement by Wiz. More so, it seems like a gauge made to measure the rising or falling of his fame and his new style. Most definitely, neither Wiz Khalifa’s best work, nor his best effort was heard on this mixtape.

Brought down by Wiz Khalifa’s new style, and further depressed by way too many weak Juicy J features, “Cabin Fever 2” was an extreme disappointment. The old Wiz Khalifa is already missed, and will hopefully make an appearance on “O.N.I.F.C.”

 You can download (if you must) Cabin Fever 2 on www.datpiff.com.