By MARIA SHERMAN AP Music Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — Fetty Wap is beaming so big, it is almost as if his smile enters the room before he does. And these days, the Paterson, New Jersey-born melodic rapper and singer has a lot to be happy about.
In January, he was released from a federal prison to home confinement after serving just over half a six-year sentence for his role in a New York-based drug trafficking scheme. During that time, he thought about everything he missed: his family, his kids, the sound of a car engine as he drives, food — “I love to eat,” he told The Associated Press — and, of course, music. He wasted no time jumping right back into it: His next album, “Zavier,” arrives Friday.
He started working on it “as soon as I got released,” he said. “January 7, 2026.”
And when did he finish? “January 10, 2026,” he laughed. “I had a lot to say. It’s been a few years of holding things in there.”
He estimates that he and his collaborators made 123 songs in total; 17 make the final list.
Less than a week after the artist born Willie Maxwell II dropped “The Butterfly Effect” in 2021, he was indicted and arrested. Two years later, he released his last album — 2023’s “King Zoo” — while incarcerated. Because of that, “Zavier” feels like both a reintroduction and new chapter for him — a real opportunity to make an album truly his own for the first time in half a decade.
“Before, being incarcerated, I had to call when I could call, 15-minute calls,” he recalls of working on “King Zoo.” “After a certain time, the phone was off. So, it was just, like, ‘I just hope it sounds good.'”
This time, he could be in the studio. He could be hands on. “That’s my safe haven,” he said. “The studio is my safe haven.”
The road to “Zavier”
Those expecting a concept record about Fetty Wap’s time behind bars would be wise to look elsewhere. “I didn’t want it to be an emotional album,” he says. “I didn’t want it be, like, ‘OK, we get it. You were away. You’re home now.’ Where’s the fun Fetty?”
Fun Fetty Wap abounds on “Zavier,” as does a serious Fetty Wap, a lustful Fetty Wap, a tender Fetty Wap. It’s “a lot of different sounds up in there,” he says. “A lot of different areas to go to.”
The eclecticism works, largely because of Fetty Wap’s unmistakable style.
“The whole ‘Zavier’ thing is just, like, bring back the same energy as the ‘Fetty Wap’ album,” he continued, referencing his 2015 breakthrough record — the one that brought the diamond-selling “Trap Queen” to the masses. “Just a more matured sound. … ‘Zavier’ is just an upgraded Fetty Wap.”
As for that name? “I’m Zavier,” he said. “This is who I am. It’s just a different side of me when I came home from prison.”
If there is a song that encapsulates that time in Fetty Wap’s life, it’s “I Remember” featuring Chicago rapper G Herbo. It’s as diaristic as a songwriter can be: a list of recollections from each stage of his life atop a minimal beat and spare guitar. He describes it as “an ode to the past and the present.”
“I gave them a glimpse of what was going on with me. … Pre-Fetty, then being Fetty Wap, and after Fetty Wap,” he said. “Then prison, then coming home, you know what I mean? I put everything in that song.”
“White Roses” is his “favorite track”
But there is no shortage of what he calls “feel good music.” That’s found in the NSFW-and-then-some R&B banger with Tink, “Nasty” — “Gotta get a little freaky,” he says, smiling — and in all-star collaborations, including tracks with Wiz Khalifa, Honey Bxby, Doe Boy and Max B. Rapper Max B was also released from prison recently.
“I got the beat, and I’m like, ‘I’m about to sound like Max B. I’m going to sound Max B and then I’m gonna make Max B sound like the old Max B,'” he said about the song “BossDon.” But it worked.
He also looked toward his family for inspiration: Fetty Wap’s sisters are featured on the album on the throwback “White Roses.”
“‘White Roses’ is actually my favorite track,” says Fetty Wap. “I recorded everything exactly how I wanted it to sound. … And then after it was done, I’m like, ‘Something’s missing.’ I called my sisters. I was like, ‘Yo, come to the studio.’ They was like, ‘What’s up?’ (I said) ‘I need you to go in there.'”
They add doo-wop-style harmonies to the song, a romantic moment on “Zavier” and Fetty Wap’s strongest vocal performance — melodic, with a controlled vibrato.
In whole, Fetty Wap hopes “Zavier” gives his audience a sense of “good energy, positivity,” he said.
“I’m not looking for any type of, like, sympathy,” he adds. “Just love the music, you know? And if you don’t — let me know so I can make better music.”