If the commercial crossover of freaky, druggy rappers like
Gucci Mane and
Future was a surprise, the supernova phenomena of
Fetty Wap took it to another level. His catchy, slang-filled, and strange single "Trap Queen" dominated radio, social media, and shopping malls to the point where
Taylor Swift brought the man on-stage for a cover version, and when the follow-up cut, "My Way," topped the charts, he had a
Lil Wayne-sized track record, and every reason to go for the feature-filled, much-anticipated, and long-delayed debut album. This self-titled LP is anything but, as it feels instant, alive, and straight off the streets, thanks in part to a guest list that relies almost exclusively on Fetty's New Jersey crew,
the Remy Boyz. Member
Monty appears on numerous cuts and is an asset on the proven "My Way", while the whole crew lands on the equally catchy "679" ("Remy Boyz, they know us/All fast money, no slow bucks"), which doubles as the gang's anthem. The brilliant solo cut "Again" is the cooler and slower version of "Trap Queen" as it pledges its devotion to one woman in spite of all the fame. It falls in the album's surprisingly daring middle section, where the ruminative "I Wonder" ("I'm a young ass nigga, but I could buy your bitch a home") and the woozy "Time" (sounds like a slower version of
Future) break up a full-length that otherwise bangs hard with trap beats, and can't stop rapping about Lambos, bank rolls, and bootys. It's a narrow spectrum, yet a worthy muze for
Fetty on about 15 or 16 of these 17 tracks, and while that does mean this debut is overstuffed, it's not by much. Consider that the MC went from his debut Internet upload to superstar with a self-titled album all in a year-and-a-half and this is a stunning achievement, plus that rare, pleasingly unfiltered debut that captures an exciting upcoming artist with little refinement. ~ David Jeffries