Okayplayer Exclusive: Fetty Wap’s Return Feels Bigger Than a Comeback

The summer of 2016 was loud, bright and felt good. The kind of summer people still talk about. One of those summers where “you just had to be there.” It was a time when millennials were in the middle of their carefree adult years, before responsibilities took over and life started shifting.

Fetty Wap was at the center of it all, defining those experiences with melodic trap bliss.

His breakout hit “Trap Queen,” now RIAA-certified diamond, had already taken off, but it didn’t stop there. Fetty was flame-throwing banger after banger: “679,” “My Way,” “Again,” “Jimmy Choo.” These records weren’t tied to just one moment; you just kept hearing them. Up and down the East Coast and beyond. Block parties, day parties, being outside with your friends, windows down, music all the way up. Fetty was inescapable, but in the best way.

Next thing you know, “Yeahhh, baby” and “1738” weren’t just lyrics. They became part of how people talked.

Fetty Wap’s run wasn’t just big, it was everywhere. A kid from Paterson, N.J. had the entire summer on lock, and everybody felt it.

And now, 10 years later, people are chasing that feeling again.

2026 hasn’t exactly been light. It’s actually been quite the opposite. Four months into the year, and it’s been disappointing, scary and unpredictable in ways that make you want something familiar. Something that feels good without trying or thinking too hard. So the idea of Fetty Wap being back home, outside and heading into another summer feels bigger than a comeback. It feels like a chance to tap back into something people have been missing.

After a few years away following legal issues that led to his incarceration in 2022, Fetty Wap, born Willie Maxwell, was released on Jan. 8. And it came with a wave of excitement. Not just for new music, but for what his return represents and what a summer with Fetty Wap sounds like again.

With a new and evolved sound, Fetty released his fourth album, Zavier, on March 27. A project that leans away from the expected and moves into more R&B and jazz-leaning territory, with a soulful edge. It’s still Fetty, just 2.0. 

And when you press play, you can hear it. The records feel more intentional. The kind of music shaped by everything he had to endure. For someone who isn’t overly emotional, this album became his release.

On his first single, “White Roses,” the visuals feel cinematic, and has already drawn comparisons to Sinners, which speaks to the kind of storytelling he’s tapping into. 

There’s a clear elevation, and it carries through the project.

Fetty closes the album with “I Remember/Dear Zavier” featuring G Herbo, a nod to his past, present and future, using the outro as an open letter to himself. It’s 70 seconds of reflection, accountability and growth. The kind of record that doesn’t happen without time, distance and perspective.

It’s a sound he knows is different. But that’s OK, because going back to what people expect would mean chasing an older version of himself. So instead, he made the project something he wanted to make. It’s as Fetty Wap-ish as possible, but rooted in where he is now. It’s something he believed people would catch up to after a few listens. And a week in, they have.

It’s showing up in real time. His first show back in New Jersey, set for April 4 in Montclair, is already sold out. A response that even surprised him, especially after thinking people had forgotten about him.

But they didn’t. And while people are hoping for another 2016 summer, Fetty isn’t trying to recreate it. He’s just trying to make something that feels just as good.

Okayplayer: Everyone says it feels like 2016 again with you back home. What’s that energy like for you?

Fetty Wap: Yeahhh, baby! Nah, I don't know. I feel good. I feel good to be able to be a part of two different generations. It's crazy. Somebody just said that to me yesterday. The generation that was with me is in college or working now and then there's a whole new generation that's like, ‘Oh, we love Fetty Wap.’ It feels really good to be one of those artists that could do that.

You didn't expect this much love coming home. How does that support feel in real time?

I mean, receiving the support, being on stage with A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, the label [300 Ent.] and all that, it was just more so like, 'Aight, you still outside, my boy. You still good.’ Know what I mean? All them thoughts you was having, you could put 'em to rest now. Go back out there and do what you do. And I just been attacking ever since.

Your Montclair, N.J. show is already sold out. What does that hometown moment mean to you?

I don't know. I'm not really an emotional guy, man. I’m just always happy. The fact that Jersey's still rocking with me like that, it just shows a lot. You know what I mean? I felt like I was a good person. I felt like I did good. I shaped a lot of people's lives with the music, and they're just showing me love and we're going to have fun. I'm just happy to just be back home. I'm just happy to be able to sell out my home state. I just feel good about it.

When you were putting Zavier together, what was your mindset going into the album?

My mindset on this album was to do what Fetty Wap do: create new sounds, create a different genre, create, just be a creative, be a musician. Just go in there and just have fun. Enjoy the music, enjoy making it. Enjoy the production, enjoy the studio. Enjoy your freedom. Just have fun and don't think about nothing else. You know what I'm saying? And that's what I did with this album. I just went in there and I just did what I do best and I just had fun, you know what I mean? And just try to make it as Fetty Wap-ish as I could.

How do you think your fans are going to receive Zavier?

Like I told my sister, I tell her all the time. At first, it's going to be different. Everybody's looking for that [hums ‘My Way’]. Everybody's looking for those sounds right there. And to recreate those sounds would be chasing the old me. I'm not that guy no more. You know what I mean? I'm a different person now. I am just all around a different person. You know what I'm saying? But for the better, though. But I feel like once they give it a few listens, they'll warm up to it. It’s still me. It is still got that sound, but it is just a lot different. It's a lot different. I went in a lot of different angles on this album, you know what I mean? Just a lot of different sounds of Fetty Wap. That's all I can say. It's going to be lit, though.

This is definitely your evolution album.

Yeah, for sure.

Everything about 'I Remember/Dear Zavier' feels intentional. What’s the message behind it?

Well, that particular song right there, the ‘I Remember/Dear Zavier’… ‘Dear Zavier’ is like an outro. It's just like me just telling myself, ‘I’m sorry for doubting myself.’ You know what I'm saying? For everybody that was like, 'Oh, he's done. He's finished.’ You was wrong. And everybody that stuck it out with me, that sun is about to shine again. And, that actual track, I wrote that while I was in solitary confinement for six-and-a-half months. I think six-and-a-half months just sitting in the cell. And at the time, it was a whole little storm, so we couldn't leave the cell at all. We was in there 90 days straight in the same room.

That was probably not even as wide as from this crate to that wall right there. So all day, you living in your thoughts. And the only way I could get out of them thoughts was to make music. You know what I'm saying? And when I made the song, it was just like, ‘Alright, I gotta get home. I got to get home and do it. I got to get home.’ So I was like, 'As soon as I got home...' That was one of the first songs… I think that's the first song I did when I got home.

Hitmaker is the one that actually like, ‘Yo, I think you should put G Herbo on this.’ And I'm like, ‘Yeah, that's going to be fire.’ So, shout-out to Hitmaker, shout-out to Herb for, you know what I mean? Going crazy up there. When y'all hear it, y'all going to see bro went crazy up there. He pulled up to my hood, came through the video shoot for me. I don't know, that song just mean a lot to me. It just means a lot to me. It is just me telling my life before Fetty Wap, as Fetty Wap. And right now, you know what I'm saying? Fetty Wap right now. And I'm proud of it. I'm proud of the project. I'm proud of that song, specifically. I can't wait. I can't wait to see how people are going to take it, how people are going to receive it.

You wrote “Dear Zavier” while in solitary confinement for over six months. How do you reflect on those thoughts now that you're out?

Right now, I have no different thoughts. I still think about it every day. And those thoughts is what helped me keep going, helped me stay focused. Just remember where you just was at. Remember what was just happening to you. Remember how they was just treating you. You know what I'm saying? Remember how you had to just eat, remember how you couldn't get up and move how you wanted. Those thoughts never leave my mind. They always say, Once you leave jail, you forget about it.' I think that's a lie. It keeps me grounded. It keeps me focused. 

If you not strong-minded, you going to break in there. You know what I'm saying? Especially in that kind of situation. And don't get me wrong, you get to leave. They let you out for rec for an hour, but for some reason, a hurricane came at that time. We were stuck in there all day, every day, 24 hours a day, you don't leave. The phones don't work. So, for three months, I couldn't call nobody, you know what I'm saying? You can't send no letters out because the mail trucks ain't coming. You just in there. So you just in your head, and that's what keeps me going. So, I'm not going to lie and say, ‘Nah, I'm different. I think different.’ No. I think about my situations every day and it keeps me… it makes me never want to go back.

What do you want people to understand about you now that maybe they didn’t before?

What I want people to understand about me now is, I ain't f**king around. I got a good team behind me now. They care about me as a person and an artist. I'm the same me. I'm just not as nice. Not as giving, not as willing to talk. A lot of people did me dirty, man. A lot of people I pulled out the dirt threw me back in it. So the person that everybody remembered four years ago, not that guy no more. I keep my smile on. I'm still me for my fans. I'm going to stop in traffic, hop out at the red light, take a picture with you, everything like that. But when it comes to business, being around me for my business or dealing with anything, my family, anything like that, I ain't f**king around with nobody. I don't want to sound too serious. But it is what it is right now. Everybody know what they did. Pull your sheets up, lay in the bed, n***a, and that's what it is. Word up.