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Fetty Wap's road to success

Rapper’s self-titled album shows promise

Fetty Wap’s self-titled album does not disappoint. The 24-year-old rapper has an eye for melodic hooks and uses his rickety voice to create memorable tag lines and addicting choruses.

The explicit version of the album is recommended. Underneath the four-letter words is his life story, which shouldn’t be censored. His songs at face value seem to be nothing but trap anthems, but his supporters know his songs elaborate his life. The most played video of the year, “Trap Queen,” depicts Fetty’s life when he was just Willie Maxwell of Paterson, N.J. with an income fueled by cooking dope and a ride or die companion off whom the hit song is based.

Fetty’s theme of loyalty rings throughout his album. “RGF Island” features his auto-tuned “yeah baby” refrain against the piano and his trap beats creating a well-balanced turn-up anthem highlighting the importance of living for today and sticking with one’s “squad.”

The album slows it down in “Rewind,” a highly-relatable song about regrets in a relationship.

Fetty means money, and this star on the rise is making a lot of it. The album’s helped him reach his record breaking accomplishment of being the first male rapper in four years to have “concurrent singles reach the top 10 of the same chart since Lil Wayne in 2011.” People are covering the rising stars’ singles and artists like Drake and Kanye West are reaching out to him.

Consequence of Sound critiques the artist in a recent review of the album stating that his “yeahhh baby!” and “1738!” ad libs get excessive calling the artist’s lyrics repetitive and noting the “all-around lack of surprises.” However, Fetty is not a lyricist nor is he trying to be.

“I’m not really into the whole lyrics thing.” he said in a Billboard interview. “I just like to make music that people like to listen to. I don't concept all of my music on one thing. It takes a lot of people hours to make music because they focus so much on one thing. I just do it, and I make something you can just vibe to.”

His website tells it like it is, stating that Fetty’s “mission in hip-hop isn’t to become more famous, but to use his fortunes to help his community rise above their hardships.”

If he stays on this trajectory, Fetty Wap will not have any issues reaching his goals. He has the key to musical success: a unique sound, a loyal squad and fearless drive. He proves this in his 64-minute album and while not every song is a hit, one can sense his desire to succeed.

“A lot of people don’t get the opportunity, so I’ma be a superstar until my star don’t burn no more,” Wap said. His star is lit in every sense of the word and listeners of the self-titled album will see that it’s not burning out any time soon.

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