When we look at the current musical landscape of mainstream rap and pop music, Fetty Wap could be considered an artist of the highest regard, his self-titled debut album a masterpiece and “Trap Queen” his magnum opus. Fetty Wap knows exactly who his audience is and the album has no problem catering to it. In fact, take “Trap Queen,” multiply it by 20 and you have the deluxe edition of “Fetty Wap,” a massive collection of nearly indecipherable lyrics, banging beats and instant hits.

If there was ever an album that fit the qualifications of a guilty pleasure, it’s this. Should we enjoy it so much? Probably not. As a whole, “Fetty Wap” has little to no narrative. Its songs fade into each other as easily as the days of the week. Fetty is often barely coherent and forms what could hardly be considered sentences.

So what makes Fetty Wap an appealing artist? For starters, the album is addicting. Fetty may be best known for “Trap Queen,” but that’s only the beginning. The album is consistently and toxically good in terms of pumping out songs that fit that certain mold. In other words, if you hate “Trap Queen,” you’ll probably hate this album.
That’s not to say every song is a clone of “Trap Queen.” There are plenty of standouts. The tracks “Again” and “RGF Island,” also released as singles leading up to the album’s release, come to mind. “Again” is the closest someone like Fetty Wap could get to a classic love anthem. “I want you to be mine again, baby. I know my lifestyle is driving you crazy. I cannot see myself without you,” Fetty sings/raps/whatever you want to call it.

In their review, the Verge calls the album “really romantic…which might be one of the reasons it’s hard to do anything but love it back.” It’s hard to tell whether they’re being sarcastic. The strange thing is that they probably aren’t. If one could decipher the mumblings beneath the thunderous bass, there might be a heart-warming story behind “Fetty Wap.”

“RGF Island” starts off like it could be romantic and quickly shifts gears into one of the best songs on the album, albeit being one of the shortest. Whereas songs like “Again” and “D.A.M.” are odes to his “trap queen,” “RGF Island” romanticizes what’s probably even closer to Fetty’s heart: his squad. “Treat my whole squad on an island,” he utters.

Fetty may have released a lot of singles prior to the album’s release, but there’s still a lot to look forward to. “How We Do Things” is prime to be the theme song for any college student pre-gaming for a night out, in the same way that “No Days Off” is the ballad driving anyone to make a crush theirs.

Surprisingly, as much as these songs will be stuck in your head, the album doesn’t feature any prominent guest artists. Monty is featured so much that it’s a wonder it wasn’t a collaborative album. No Drake, no Jay-Z, no Kendrick Lamar…this is distinctly Fetty’s album.

It’s hard to figure out whether “Fetty Wap” is the album we need, the one we deserve, both or neither. Whatever the case, it will continue to destroy speakers everywhere until something better, or of equal caliber comes along.

Rating: 4 out of 5