Fall Out Boy’s new album features hip-hop artists


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Tight jeans, side-swept bangs and bad middle school memories might be what first comes to mind when pop-punk band Fall Out Boy is mentioned, but the four-piece band has never seen itself as stereotypically emo. From collaborations with Big Sean, a tour with Wiz Khalifa  and music video appearances by 2 Chainz, the members of Fall Out Boy have proved themselves to be out of the box. Their relationship with the hip-hop genre continues Oct. 30 with the release of Make America Psycho Again, a remix album of their most recent album American Beauty/American Psycho.

The original album was released in January of this year and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 200. Now, the band has announced a remix album that features today’s most popular rappers. The album has the same exact track list as American Beauty/American Psycho, but each song features one rapper. The artists featured on the new album are Migos, A$AP Ferg, Juicy J, Azealia Banks, Wiz Khalifa, Big K.R.I.T., UZI, OG Maco, I LOVE MAKONNEN, Black Thought and Joey Bada$$. So far, four of the re-releases have been made available, “Irresistible
(feat. Migos),” “The Kids Aren’t Alright (feat. Azealia Banks),” “Uma Thurman (feat. Wiz Khalifa)” and “American Beauty/American Psycho (feat. A$AP Ferg).”

“Irresistible (feat. Migos)” replaces the typically early 2000s alternative rock sound of the band with a modern trap beat. Azealia Banks gives “The Kids Aren’t Alright” a slowed down, consistent beat that adds a childhood nostalgia with a sense of restlessness. Banks raps about her lover, which flows perfectly into lead singer Patrick Stump’s original lyrics. “Uma Thurman” is perhaps the best song of the tracks, possibly because Khalifa and the band have worked together so often. Khalifa stays true to the rock influence on the song while adding his own flair to create a party-perfect hit for fans of both genres. A$AP Ferg makes “American Beauty/American Psycho” his own in the remix. He fluidly transforms the song into a track that could have appeared on his own album with no question. Laced in the song is Stump singing the hook of the smooth rap track. He name-drops Nicki Minaj, rhymes with pelican and somehow makes the Beach Boys-like harmony of the original song seem cohesive.

The album is not a case of one artist becoming the other. Fall Out Boy doesn’t cross over to hip-hop, and none of the rappers trade over their skills for rock; rather, a new and interesting hybrid is created. The unique sound that Make America Psycho Again establishes promises to have mainstream success. Stump’s vocals are taken out of their natural environment and made more powerful by the more simplistic beats. The rap verses are made even more evocative when backed by a rock-like rhythm. Together, the artists lead a movement against genre division that will hopefully begin a revolution.