It's hard not to root for Fetty Wap, the rapper whose irrepressible 2014 single "Trap Queen" went from Tri-State SoundCloud sensation to this year's late-pass song of the summer. The 24-year-old, born Willie Maxwell, is unshakably positive, turning a prominent disability (he lost his eye to glaucoma as a child) into a proud calling card that's already inspired a 10-year old to venture out into the world without his own prosthetic eye. He's from Paterson, N.J., a place we would almost certainly not be talking about were it not for Fetty Wap; he's fiercely loyal to his longtime Remy Boyz 1738 crew, including perennial sidekick Monty, a rapper we would assuredly not be talking about were it not for Fetty Wap. He's almost singlehandedly revived the ride-or-die thug love ballad with a serotonin-soaked ditty—now double-platinum—that turns a negative situation (having to cook dope to make a living) into not just an unforgettable date but a symbolic proclamation of undying, committed love. And though he's no longer in a relationship with "Trap Queen"'s muse, he's currently paying her college tuition as a thank-you.
If there's any hurdle in Fetty's way at this point, it's his nagging reputation as a one-and-done singles artist that persists even as he smashes Billboard records. When "Again", the album's fourth single, entered the charts in August, he became the only artist in the history of the Hot Rap Songs chart to have his first four singles reach the Top 10 simultaneously. The same week, an article was published: "Is Fetty Wap Destined To Be Another One-Hit Wonder?" It's a bizarre dissonance, best understood as such: those four charting singles, addictive as they are, don't do much to break the mold of what we've come to expect from a Fetty Wap song. Which is to say: generous Auto-Tune, exuberant melodies, and a lot of warbled "Yeaaaaaaaa baby"s and "1738"s.
With Fetty Wap, released through the tech-savvy but still-transitional 300 Entertainment imprint, the rappa-turnt-sanga finally has the platform to show he's more than a singles guy. To that end, he put out a 20-song album with no new friends and no big-name producers—in short, this is the album he probably would have made with his RGF Productions squad in Paterson were there no label involved at all. Those looking for a new direction from Fetty, or who've already mined the depths of his prolific SoundCloud, may find this a letdown. But those who've embraced his loyalty and radical self-love should be delighted: Is there a more quintessentially Fetty Wap move than turning the year's biggest major label rap debut into a self-directed Paterson block party?
The first thing you might notice on Fetty Wap's tracklist isn't what's there—if you've kept up with his output over the last year and a half, there's a lot you'll recognize here—but who isn't. Drake's hastily added guest verse to "My Way" from earlier this year is missing; the album version features a verse from Remy Boyz' Monty, who appears on nine of the album's 20 tracks, the only guest aside from relatively unknown M80. As a whole, Fetty Wap adopts the same self-assured stance: Fetty's formula definitely ain't broke, and he doesn't seem in a hurry to fix it. In what can only be described as a flex, he opens the album with "Trap Queen", a seemingly audacious move he knows full well he can back up. Why coyly tease out your first and biggest hit when you've got 19 more just like it?
That's the thing: you could shuffle these tracks endlessly and the album would probably have the same effect. It's not that there are any missteps here, really; if you like what you've already heard from Fetty, you'll like these songs. There are variations, to be sure—second single "679" borrows some West Coast bounce, functioning as a clubby palate cleanser in the way that "Fight Night" did for Migos. "I Wonder" and "Boomin" successfully skulk into drill's shadowy corners. But for the most part, Fetty doesn't venture too far outside his comfort zone.
Still, when the highs are this high, it's hard to complain. "My Way" is still 2015's ultimate trap lullaby, lilting in hypnotic spirals. "RGF Island" turns somber keys into a hard-earned celebration, and "I'm Straight" dials the exuberance further up with triumphant steel drums. And though he's a much more natural singer, "Again" is Fetty's best rap performance. "I'm tryna finish who I started with/ I'm tryna spend it all who I got it with," he crows, reassuring his fed-up trap queen that his crazy life will all be worth it when they can enjoy it together. Fetty approaches everything in his music with the earnest devotion of matrimony: his trap queen, his money, his beloved Remy Boyz. So though it's tempting to wonder what may have happened had 300 recruited labelmates Young Thug or Quavo, or beatmakers du jour like Metro Boomin or Zaytoven, it's only right Fetty insisted on keeping things in the 1738 family.
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