- Written by Tommy Gunz
The numbers are in and Fetty Wap, perhaps the biggest artist of the summer, debuts on the Billboard Charts at…#3 ??
That’s right, the man who has pretty much dominated radio over the summer with 4 Billboard ‘Top 10’ hits underwhelmed industry expectations, moving only 74,609 copies of his self-titled debut album in 1st week sales. The Paterson, NJ native came in at #3 on the Billboard Top 200 Charts, beaten by a pair of country singers Don Henley (84K) and George Strait (82K) respectively.
How is this possible? Based on industry projections, record label insiders were expecting Fetty’s album to move around 300,000 units in the first week. Indeed, Fetty Wap went from one-time ‘underdog’, to one of the hottest names in music. His album, which is actually very good, was supposed to be a ‘sure-thing’.
Not that he is a disappointment, far from it. Debuting at #3 on the Billboard charts is still a big-deal, and the singer has enjoyed enormous success via radio airplay, single’s downloads, and music streams, not to mention having one of the biggest records of the year with the infectious “Trap Queen”. And just as important, Fetty has also put New Jersey (and by extension New York as well) back on the hip-hop scene, in an era where ‘down-south’ rap has been dominating the charts for some time now.
So what happened? Are we just seeing Fetty Wap fatigue, after a summer where it seemed like ALL you heard was Fetty on the radio, seemingly on every station. Perhaps many fans felt like they already heard his album after months of radio domination. Or perhaps in 2015, the one-eyed singer is just an example of a ‘Single’s Artist’, similar to the Flo-Rida wave that gripped much of radio during the late 2000’s.
I guess only time will tell. Congratulations to NJ’s own Fetty Wap for his strong debut on the charts. Stay tuned to GoodFellaz TV for all the latest info on this story.
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