Fetty Wap

New Jersey rapper Fetty Wap’s melodic, rap-sing style takes influence from Gucci Mane and other Southern hip-hop acts, adding just enough pop sheen to his trap tracks to break into the mainstream. He did exactly that in 2015 with his smash hit “Trap Queen,” as well as his chart-topping self-titled album. Fetty Wap’s sound stayed consistent on subsequent singles, mixtapes, and his second studio album, 2021′s The Butterfly Effect.
Born Willie Maxwell II and raised in Paterson, New Jersey, Fetty (sometimes known as Fetty Guwap after Gucci Mane’s GuWop alias) launched his career alongside Montana Bucks, Khaos, and P. Dice in the hip-hop group Remy Boyz. In 2014, he released the solo singles “Addicted” and “Zoovier” and appeared on the Remy Boyz mixtape 1738 — the mixtape was referenced at the beginning of Fetty’s 2015 solo single “Trap Queen,” a track that jumped into the Top 20 of Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart in its third week of release. The hit was soon remixed by French Montana and crossed into the Top Ten of the Billboard Hot 100, while Fetty joined Young Thug and Migos on Lyor Cohen’s 300 Entertainment label. The follow-up single, “My Way,” climbed into the Top Ten of the Billboard singles chart, and landed on Fetty’s self-titled debut, a 2015 album that kept it in the family with all guest appearances coming from members of the Remy Boyz. Fetty Wap debuted at the top of the Billboard 200. A pair of mixtapes and Grammy nominations followed, as well as a steady stream of singles including “Wake Up,” which broke into the Billboard Top 50 in the summer of 2016. His sixth mixtape, Zoovier, arrived later that year. In 2017, Fetty released a slew of singles, including “Way You Are” with Monty, “Flip Phone,” “Wonder” with Blackmagic, “Feels Great” with Cheat Codes and CVBZ, and more. He continued into 2018 with collaboration “KEKE” with 6ix9ine and A Boogie wit da Hoodie, and “With You” with KDL. He also got back to his mixtapes, issuing For My Fans and Bruce Wayne that same year.
More new singles arrived in 2019, including collaborations with Just Chase (“100K” and “Can’t Get Enough”) as well as “History” and “Birthday.” In 2020 he offered up the brief seven-song mixtape Trap & B, a collection of romantically themed trap songs that arrived just in time for a Valentine’s Day release. It was followed by several more mixtapes, including 2020′s Big Zoovie and You Know the Vibes. In October of 2021, six years after the arrival of his debut, Fetty released second studio album The Butterfly Effect. The album stayed true to his melodic trap style and included no featured artists or rappers other than Fetty himself. The standalone singles “Sweet Yamz” and “Tonight” appeared in 2022 and 2023, respectively. ~ David Jeffries