Amidst a thick cloud of confetti and blasts of carbon-dioxide, Fetty Wap appeared on stage to a deafening roar from fans on all three levels at the House of Blues. After openers NexxThursday and De-Va’Je amped up the crowd for nearly two hours, the audience was excited for the headliner to perform.
Visiting Boston on his “For My Fans” tour, it’s clear that the New Jersey-born rapper has come a long way in the past few years. Hailing from Paterson, New Jersey, Willie “Fetty Wap” Maxwell II spent his early years playing in bands before dropping out of high school and dealing drugs in his hometown. It wasn’t until late 2013 that he recorded his hit “Trap Queen”, and in early 2014 it was uploaded to the music sharing site SoundCloud. Since then, the rapper has been nominated into XXL’s Freshman Class of 2015, released multiple Top-10 singles and went on tour with Chris Brown — yet much of his persona has been unchanged. Maxwell still lives in New Jersey, spends time with childhood friends and largely attributes his success to those he surrounds himself with rather than his own talent.
Fetty Wap’s performance Tuesday night was remarkably representative of this. As he took the stage, his friends walked in behind him and remained on stage for the majority of his show; some even grabbed a mic. Maxwell’s appreciation for his rise to fame was evident as he interacted with fans throughout the performance. His recognizable blend of singing and rapping kept the audience singing and dancing along for the entire performance as he wove in more popular tracks, such as “679” and “My Way,” alongside songs from the rest of his debut self-titled album.
Of course, when the first beats of “Trap Queen” began, the entire room erupted in cheers. It’s fitting that Maxwell’s “trap love song” garnered the largest response from the crowd; while it was what launched him to stardom back in 2014/2015, its unique blend of trap concepts and affectionate connotations paints a perfect picture of the complex person behind all the fame.
Photos and review by Alex Melagrano
