Wiz Khalifa is sharing gratitude through the pain. On Friday (Feb. 13), the Grammy-nominated rapper revealed that his father, Laurence Thomaz, has died.
“Today my father decided not to wake up,” he wrote in a series of posts on X. “I will always love him, miss him and be [grateful] for the things he taught me. He went out like a true yogi, at peace and on his own time. I love you forever Laurence W. Thomaz.”
In a follow-up post he added, “The last conversation i had with my dad was him telling me how proud of me he was for the movie i was in and I promised him i would do more. LT Forever.”
After several fans offered their condolences, Wiz dove deeper into what his father meant to him.
“My father’s passing was sudden but seeing how many people love and respected him makes happy and i know he’s proud that he left a positive impact on this earth. Literally all he ever wanted,” he wrote.
The elder Thomaz’s bond with Wiz echoed in how the “Young, Wild and Free” rapper raised his son, Sebastian, whom he shares with ex-wife Amber Rose. In an episode from the 2019 docuseries titled “Wiz Khalifa: Behind The Cam,” Laurence Thomaz reflected on how his grandson changed his son’s life for the better.
“Sebastian’s matured him, but it’s made him more serious and understand: ‘I have to be here; I can’t do the dangerous, reckless things I was doing before: I have this little guy to look out for,’” Thomaz said.
A military man, the elder Thomaz planted the seeds of music in the mind of Wiz at a very young age.
“Wiz’s dad is a real musical person,” Will Dzombak, Wiz’s day-to-day manager and co-CEO of Taylor Gang told Complex in a 2012 interview. “Growing up, instead of watching TV, they used to always listen to music. He took that with him as he got older.”
The rapper added, “My dad made me write down goals every couple of months. He’d say, ‘What are your goals for the next couple months?’ I’d tell him, ‘To get this, to do this, and have enough money to buy this.’”
Condolences to Wiz and his family.
