One of the most buzzing names in hip hop has released his debut LP. We take a look at Fetty Wap's come-up, and highlight some of the facts you need to know before listening to his self-titled album.
Given that Fetty Wap's self-titled album was made available for streaming today ahead of its scheduled release tomorrow, we shine a light on some of the better and lesser known facts that you need to know about one of the hottest names in hip-hop right now. Real name Willie Maxwell, Fetty hails from Patterson, New Jersey, and has only been actively making music since 2013. A definite newcomer, Wap and his Remy Boyz have gained significant traction in the hip-hop arena in a short amount of time.
Stream the album above while you read and buy it on iTunes.
He lost his eye from glaucoma at the age of six months
When Fetty Wap first started emerging as an artist, there were several prominent rumors explaining his missing left eye. Speculation on the web went so far as to perpetrate that Fetty was shot in the face with a shotgun, or lost it in a firecracker-related accident. In reality, the cause was a serious case of glaucoma. When TMZ caught up with Fetty, he revealed "I was born with glaucoma, and I lost the eye at 6 months, and I got reconstructive surgery at 12, but I stopped wearing the prosthesis because I didn't want to look like everybody else."
A photo posted by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on Aug 9, 2015 at 1:14am PDT
He has received co-signs from big industry names like Kanye West and Taylor Swift
Kanye West hand-picked Fetty Wap to model YEEZY Season 1 in CR Men's Book, a project headed up by former Vogue Paris editor-in-chief Carine Roitfeld. Perhaps even more surprising, Taylor Swift brought Fetty Wap out during the Seattle stop of her 1989 tour, when the pair performed a duet of "Trap Queen." Fetty later revealed in an interview that Swift's management reached out to bring Fetty to the Seattle performance. Even Ed Sheeran released an acoustic cover of "Trap Queen."
'Trap Queen' is about his ex-girlfriend who learned to cook crack for them to share
To go along with the images in CR Men's Book, Fetty Wap provided some select quotes for readers, including the following:
“Everyone can have their own trap queen. There is the way I use it in the song, but my mom is a trap queen. She held us down and she was a queen at doing it. She took care of her children and her tribe, made sure we had food on the table, and kept our heads up. However you want to put it, there are different meanings to it.”
He is hugely inspired by Gucci Mane
Willie's chosen rap moniker is a partial homage to Gucci Mane, with "Wap" being a subtle nod to the "Lemonade" rapper's self-anointed nickname "Guwop", while "Fetty" is slang for money. Gucci Mane and Quavo from Migos also jumped on a remix of "Trap Queen."
Image: Robert E. Klein AP Photo/Associated Press
He won "Artist to Watch" at the MTV video awards
Fetty beat out FKA twigs, Vance Joy and George Ezra for the Best New Artist award. Although, eyes were certainly on Fetty already, after becoming the first artist in history to have his first four debut singles all in the top 10 on the Hot Rap Songs chart simultaneously.
He made the XXL Freshman list for 2015
Being selected as part of the annual XXL Freshman list is an accolade any rapper would relish in. On the honor, Wap stated the below:
"To be a XXL Freshman, to me, just means to work hard. This wasn’t ever my goal. My goal was to make sure my family ain’t have to work anymore. This is an accomplishment. I never pictured myself on the cover. I just started rapping. The other main reason is because everybody knows me because of “Trap Queen.” I got fans that know the rest of my music but for the most part that’s the only song everyone know. I didn’t think it was going to be like that. I just kept working hard for it. Now when people look up the accomplishments of Fetty Wap, fans are going to see he was a XXL Freshman."
Read the full profile here, and check out his cypher with DeJ Loaf and Shy Glizzy here.
@dsu101 King Shit Sippin King Shit out the bottle … #louisxiii A photo posted by
The "1738" ad-lib refers to a brand of premium cognac
While Remy Boyz is a more overt reference, Wap's favorite ad-lib "1738" refers to Rémy Martin 1738 Accord Royal, a premium bottle from the French brand that is preferred by Fetty Wap as well as his Remy Boyz affiliates Montana Bucks and P-Dice.
