Fall Out Boy released a new album on Oct. 30 that is completely comprised of rap remix tracks titled, “Make America Psycho Again.” All of the tracks on the album are remixes of the band’s songs from their album, “American Beauty/American Psycho,” which was released back in January. The album includes several collaborations with A$AP Ferg, Juicy J, Big K.R.I.T. and Black Thought, who is a member of The Roots.
Fall out Boy’s “The Kids Aren’t Alright” is a perfect example of the band’s style that they’ve constructed over the years together. For their newest album, they’ve taken this ballad and remixed it with a verse in the beginning of the track from rapper, Azealia Banks. Banks recounts running, “the town with my number one,” and how addicted she is to Fall Out Boy.
Though “The Kids Aren’t Alright” also deals with young love, Banks’ tone sounds far more confident than the melancholy tone that the song takes as it goes on. This dichotomy is never resolved as Banks only has the one verse and never returns later in the track., The lyrics after her verse then continue as the same lyrics that were in the original song, but the remix also features an electrified version of the original instrumental that gives the song a more hip-hop tone. The new style is an interesting change, but does not at all dignify the original track.
Another remix that has been getting a lot of attention is Fall Out Boy’s hit, “Uma Thurman” with Wiz Khalifa. The band and Khalifa have been performing this track together since they premiered the song at the Billboard Music Awards in May. Khalifa has opened for the band in their most recent tour throughout August. The new energetic beat has made the track more of a song you would hear in a club, while still nodding to Quinten Tarentino’s “Pulp Fiction” filmscore. The vocals are also manipulated to sound loud, soft or deeper throughout the song while the lyrics are kept clipped and repetitive. However, Khalifa’s verse in the middle keeps it from being annoyingly so. Back in June, Wentz discussed with the Baltimore Sun how their fans, particularly their young fans, are more accepting of cross genre collaborations. Wentz stated, “Kids like songs. This song might be by a rapper and this one might be by a DJ or a rock band. I think genre means less.”
Fall Out Boy also has been working on another project recently called, “We Love Disney.” The Disney album is a compilation of covers of Classic Disney songs by popular artists. The project originally started in France and now has expanded worldwide. The album, also released on Oct. 30, features Ne-Yo, Jason Derulo, Jessi J, Ariana Grande, Jhené Aiko, Tori Kelly and more. Fall Out Boy covers “I Wanna Be Like You (Monkey Song)” from “The Jungle Book” in the album and the boys easily give the song a rock tone, highlighting Patrick Stump’s soulful voice as they imitate the original scatting with an electric guitar.
The band also announced their new tour, “Wintour is Coming” with AWOLNATION and PVRIS. The tour kicks off in February in Puerto Rico and includes over 20 cities. Already, they have sold out in Madison Square Garden. Fall Out Boy is thriving and clearly have hit their stride since they’ve reunited.
