Fetty Wap is a musician who is perhaps best known for his track ‘Trap Queen’.
Fetty Wap lost his left eye after a childhood incident. Following this incident, he was found to have congenital glaucoma, a condition that damages the optic nerve.
Read more about Fetty Wap and the reason he lost his eye below.
Losing His Eye
Fetty Wap spoke about how he lost an eye in a radio interview. “When I was little, I got into an accident and it gave me congenital glaucoma in both of my eyes.”
There were concerns that he may lose his vision completely, but luckily, doctors were able to save one eye. “I was blessed to still have my vision,” he says.
His eye, he recognizes, is a unique feature. He told an interviewer, “I’m probably one of the first rappers/singers to come on the scene with [only] one eye and be comfortable with it. A lot of people are judgmental but it’s all on how you show yourself to the people. That’s probably one of the main things people won’t know about me until they see me.”
People with glaucoma suffer from a build-up of pressure in the eye which, over time, damages the optic nerve, meaning that the eye cannot send images for the brain to process. It can be hereditary or can occur after a trauma or infection.
Who is Fetty Wap?
Real name Willie Maxwell, Fetty Wap was born in 1991 and grew up in New Jersey.
He grew up with a religious background, with his grandfather a bishop and both his parents regular churchgoers. Church also provided a musical outlet to the family.
“My mom sang in the choir, my dad played the keyboard, and my uncle played the drums,” he told Interview Magazine. As a child, he too began playing the drums, and enjoyed attending church.
His childhood was not without its challenges. While he saw his peers enjoying expensive gifts from their parents including video games, he had none of the same luxuries.
He attended Paterson Public School. “At the time, it was the worst school in the city. Ain’t nobody want their kids to go to School 6,” he recalls.
As a teen, he began to take music more seriously, despite his parents’ objections. “It wasn’t what they wanted for me,” he explains.
“I’ve always been my own person. I don’t do what people want me to do. Like, if you want me to do that, I’m going to do the complete opposite.”
He remains close to his family, however, and bought his mom a house when he became successful.
Career in Music
Fetty Wap began experimenting with music and showed talent as both a rapper and singer.
He began performing gigs and soon gained the name ‘Fetty’ among his listeners, which is a slang term for money. He was also a fan of the rapper Gucci Mane, who was also known as GuWop, with ‘Wap’ being an ode to his fellow rapper.
In 2014, he released ‘Trap Queen’, his breakout hit. Though it was slow to gain traction, it went viral after fans started to notice the track on Soundcloud.
After the success of the song, he bagged a record deal with 300 entertainment.
In 2015, his second single, ‘679’ was released and reached the top ten of Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. He followed this with the song ‘My Way’, which also achieved commercial success, with its popularity also boosted when it was remixed by Drake.
His first full album came in September 2015 and reached the number one spot on the album chart.
Now a well-established artist in his own right, he’s collaborated with some famous faces in music, including Fifth Harmony and French Montana.
Despite the fame, he remains grounded, telling Trevor Noah, “I don’t feel no different. I see the music, because I made it. I don’t really see the fame.”