LOS ANGELES (Top40 Charts) Fetty Wap has been honored with two American
Music Award nominations: New Artist of the Year and Favorite Artist - Rap/Hip Hop. The news comes on the heels of his No. 1 debut on the Billboard 200 last week.
Fetty Wap is the first hip-hop act in over two years to top the chart with a debut studio effort. His self-titled, independently released album remains in the Top 5 of the Billboard 200 this week. FETTY WAP (RGF Productions/300 Entertainment) is available in a 17-track standard format and 20-track deluxe edition. To date,
Fetty Wap has sold upwards of 4.8 million tracks and has one billion paid streams.
The New Jersey-based newcomer swept last night's BET Hip Hop Awards with wins for "Track Of The Year," "Who Blew Up Award" and "Sweet 16: Best Featured Verse" with Drake. He took home the "Artist to Watch" award at the 2015 MTV Video
Music Awards earlier this year.
Fetty Wap kicked off his career with an astonishing streak of smashes. Over the course of 2015, his breakout hit "
Trap Queen" went triple Platinum as his next two singles, "
My Way" (feat. Monty) and "679" (feat. Monty), reached Gold and Platinum status, respectively. With the success of these tracks,
Fetty Wap became the first artist since
Eminem to land three songs in the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100. By August 2015, the songs were charting in the Top 11. The only previous act to chart three concurrent songs in the Hot 100's Top 11 with its first three charted titles was the Beatles. "Again," Fetty Wap's fourth single, cemented his spot in history as the first artist ever to simultaneously chart his inaugural four entries in the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot Rap Songs Chart.
"Fetty Wap is a player who still manages to be playful, and that's just as addictive as any product you could ever buy on the street," said TIME Magazine. Rolling Stone called
Fetty Wap "one of this year's most endearing breakout stars" while USA Today said, "No up-and-comer has made more noise on the charts in 2015 than Fetty Wap." Associated Press observed, "Fetty Wap is having a LeBron
James kind of year. The Patterson, N.J. native has entrenched himself among the upper echelon of artists in 2015. His unflinching approach to the game has major labels shook. His grind is nuts. While artists tend to simply vacay for a short-time on Billboard, Fetty has become a permanent resident by nestling himself in the Top 10."
His infectious energy makes
Fetty Wap a dynamic live performer -- something made abundantly clear in a series of recent TV appearances that included the MTV Movie Awards (mashing up "
Trap Queen" with Fall Out Boy), the BET Awards, "The
Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" and "Jimmy Kimmel LIVE!" One of his most meaningful performances yet was at a free show at his hometown school, East Side High (the real-life school portrayed in the film Lean On Me), where the mayor of Paterson presented him with the key to the city.
"I didn't really think I would be an artist. Last year, I didn't have an address," says Fetty Wap. "I just want fans to enjoy the record. It's me. Personally, I'm most excited to be able to provide for my children. They won't have to experience the same struggles I did as a kid, God willing. They're my biggest inspiration, and I do this for them."