Album Review: Fetty Wap- S/T

What is a ‘Fetty Wap?”

It sounds like “Feta Wrap” which one would assume is a wrap including feta cheese. As it turns out, Fetty Wap has nothing to do with food, and everything to do with vapid, horrible pop-rap music.

Fetty Wap is also not a character from Mortal Kombat, although he kind of looks like one on the cover of his self-titled debut album.¹

So who is this Fetty? And what does he Wap?

Fetty is the stage name of Willie Maxwell, a one-eyed rapper who rose to fame of the internet success, and subsequent rerelease by an Atlantic Records subsidiary of the runaway single “Trap Queen.” Banking on that success, and the release of subsequent (and similar sounding singles) Fetty has crafter a rather self-indulgently long introduction to who he is as a rapper.

Here are some thoughts that I had while listening to Fetty Wap at my office:

More auto-tuned warbling

Why? Why is this what rap music has become? Between this Drake mixtape with Future (which is awful), the latest Chief Keef album (which is also not very good), that Travi$ Scott thing (that I reviewed earlier in the month and did not much care for) and now this—when will rap music get better? Where is the good, or at least interesting rap music?

Half sung/half rapped, Fetty warbles his way through his self-titled album. He’s a little easier to understand than other auto-tune auteurs, like Young Thug, who is hands down one of the worst working rappers today, but for fuck’s sake, a decade plus in, this auto-tune thing is getting old. No one is doing anything innovative with it anymore. 

Why does this all sound the same?

I imagine when Fetty signed his record deal with 300 Entertainment, they were like, “Fetty, babe, love that ‘Trap Queen’ song you’ve got. Now give us an album full of the exact same thing.”

There are two songs on here—“679” and “Again”—that use pretty much an identical sounding hook. I mean, can Fetty sue himself for sounding TOO MUCH like himself?

With that being said, as dumb as all these songs are, they are doing their job—they are pop songs, and many of them are structured to be as catchy as fuck. Specifically “Trap Queen,” “679” and “Again,” which are probably the best crafted of the lot.

But with that being said, hooks are all they are. There is, like, no substance to any of these songs (and maybe there doesn’t need to be) but also Fetty is not, like, the world’s best rapper. He kind of just alternates between the half sung auto-tune thing, and just shouting, which is unnecessary. I mean, we can all hear you Fetty. There’s no need to yell.

Product placement

Rap music never is one to shy away from mentioning the finer things in life—like nice cars, clothing, liquor, et. al, and Fetty is no exception.

His crew are called the Remy Boyz, named after the aged cognac. Also, Fetty is constantly rambling on about 1738—another Remy Martin reference.

Why?  I just don’t understand why most of this album is about mid-level cognac. What’s so great about it that you would name your crew after it?

But I guess I’ve never had to name a crew before. And I don’t drink. So maybe I shouldn’t be weighing in on the ludicrous amount of references to Remy Martin on this album.

Bird sounds

Is Fetty Wap a bird? Sometimes he sounds like one. He makes a squawking sound that sounds like he could be saying “squad,” or he could just be a half person, half bird, and he needs to squawk every once in a while.

The bird noises only become more prevalent as the album continues on. I mean, it gets pretty fucking distracting after a certain point.

A conclusion  

I was admittedly late to the “Trap Queen” party. I mean, it’s by no means the best song I’ve ever heard. It’s cute, I guess—the sentiment. It’s the kind of song I would set as my ringtone for when my wife calls me, except her ringtone for the last two years has been “My Ni**a” by YG and I don’t plan on changing that anytime soon.

I went into Fetty Wap not knowing much about the music, and just knowing a lot about the name, and the buzz that has been generated about him. But as hard as I tried to see something of value in this record, I can’t really find anything. It’s just insipid, and there is nothing—not even the idea of music just for the sheer sense of fun or entertainment—that is connecting with me.

Fetty Wap is out now via 300 Entertainment.

^{1- It’s worth noting that Fetty makes a reference to Mortal Kombat character Liu Kang on the album’s second track; however that is not the character he looks like on the album cover.}