Wiz Khalifa Confronts His Ancestral Past on Finding Your Roots

Wiz Khalifa recently appeared on Finding Your Roots, joining host Henry Louis Gates Jr. for a deeply personal exploration of his family history—one that brought both painful truths and newfound clarity.

During the episode, Wiz learned that his fifth great-grandfather, Howard Williamson, was enslaved in Alabama in the 1870s. According to Gates, records showed that Williamson lived next door to the family that owned him, a revelation that visibly affected the rapper.

“I think I’m programmed to feel a little bit pissed,” Wiz said while processing the information. “Just him owning my family sounds crazy. That sounds wild. I feel some type of way about that.”

He went on to reflect on the dehumanizing nature of historical records tied to enslavement. Seeing his ancestor listed without a name—reduced to age, sex, and race—was particularly jarring. “It’s a life,” Wiz said, emphasizing that these documents treated people as property rather than human beings.

The conversation, while heavy, became what Wiz described as a “reality check.” Later in the episode, he also learned that after gaining his freedom, Williamson registered to vote—an especially courageous act given the dangers Black Americans faced in the years following the Civil War. “Now I’m able to say their name,” Wiz said of his ancestors. “So that just makes it even better.”

The episode also traced Wiz’s family through the Great Migration. His grandfather, Willie Wimbush Jr., moved from the South to Pittsburgh in search of opportunity. Wiz said learning that story helped him feel his grandfather’s ambition and determination more clearly than ever before.

Wiz’s appearance on the PBS series comes amid unrelated headlines about a legal issue overseas. Weeks earlier, reports surfaced that the rapper could face up to nine months in prison in Romania following allegations of illegal drug possession tied to an onstage incident at the Beach Please! Festival. Authorities reportedly issued a fine while the case remains under review.

Despite that backdrop, Wiz Khalifa’s Finding Your Roots episode stood apart—offering a rare, reflective moment that connected his present-day success to the resilience and sacrifices of the generations that came before him.

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