Willie Junior Maxwell II, better known as famous rapper Fetty Wap, was released from federal prison to home confinement Jan. 8, 2026. For the next five years, he will be supervised and doing community service while he builds back his life.

However, being in custody has put a halt to his music career. In August 2022, he pleaded guilty of the rumors coming out about him being involved in a drug trafficking operation. Authorities said he and the group transported more than 100 kilograms of illegal substances from the west coast to Long Island, where they were then distributed around New York and New Jersey. On top of that, he allegedly threatened a man adding further charges to him. He spent over three years in federal prison and is currently under house arrest.

During those years in prison, he says he reflected on the path his life was going down and wants to focus on rebuilding himself now– both morally and with his music career. He advocates for supporting children at risk, wanting better access to education, technology and even vision care for children.

Fetty Wap is a well known rapper and artist known for his top charting songs like “Trap Queen”, “Again” and “679”. He rose to fame in 2014 after dropping out of high school to pursue his songwriting career, and has been musically influential since. He uniquely combines rapping and singing, and also says his music is inspired by Haitian music and instrumentation.