Fetty Wap
Fetty Wap (Atlantic)

Following a year’s worth of hype surrounding Fetty Wap, steered by club-dominating singles “Trap Queen” and “My Way”, the release of the New Jersey native’s self-titled debut album last Friday was to be celebrated the whole weekend through. Plans were derailed on Saturday afternoon, though, when the rapper’s motorcycle collided head-on with another vehicle, landing him in a Garden State hospital with a broken leg. What ended up being bigger news than the album drop was the fact that the rising rapper was still alive. His entourage has said he’s looking forward to an eventual return to the stage.

So, for now, we’ve got a monstrously oversized LP to chew on. Fetty Wap starts off with the familiar but still strong “Trap Queen”, a foundation-shaking anthem about spending quality time with your best girl (i.e., counting stacks together in the bando and whipping through the streets in matching Lambos). The Big ZooWap’s slightly processed and digitized vocals are effortlessly joyous, each piece of rapped praise seemingly flecked in gold. It’s a formula he arrives at quite often, though, which ends up devaluing the record on the whole.

At its highest moments, we get to hear him gleefully discuss his too-turnt virtues with the girl of his dreams on “My Way” and “Again”. But at 17 songs long—20, if you nab the bonus edition—there’s plenty of filler. Consider, for instance, the oddly gruff “Boomin’ ” or aesthetic retreads like “Couple Bands” and “No Days Off”. Even on the great “Again”, he raps, “I go outta my way to please you” a bit overzealously.

The overloaded effort may be trying to get more bang for your buck, but if Fetty Wap can learn to trim the fat he may be able to transcend singles culture.