Young and Menace

"Young and Menace" is a song by American rock band Fall Out Boy, released on April 27, 2017, through Island Records and DCD2. It was released as the lead single from the band's seventh studio album, Mania.[1] The music video was released simultaneously with the single.[2][3]

"Young and Menace"
Single by Fall Out Boy
from the album Mania
ReleasedApril 27, 2017 (2017-04-27)
Genre
Length3:44
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Fall Out Boy singles chronology
"Ghostbusters (I'm Not Afraid)"
(2016)		 "Young and Menace"
(2017)		 "Champion"
(2017)
Music video
"Young and Menace" on YouTube

Background

In deciding what "Young and Menace" would sound like, Pete Wentz took inspiration from artists he admires like The Clash, David Bowie, and Kanye West whose musical direction evolved over time. Wentz told Andrew Trendell of NME that the original version of the song was so "extreme" and "chaotic" that "It sounded like a 1990's modem. It didn't even sound like music. So we reigned [sic] it in from there." The band felt that the track might not be radio-friendly, but that it could resonate with the wider culture.[4]

Initially, the song made a reference to the personal life of Britney Spears, and included the lyric "Oops I did it again/ I’ve got my head shaved and my umbrella out/ I just forgot what I was talking about." Wentz removed the references to Spears' personal struggles, as he was not comfortable discussing them in his music.[5] The finished song still name-drops Spears' single "Oops!... I Did It Again" (2000).[6] Wentz told Nylon's Ilana Kaplan that he referenced Spears in "Young and Menace" because "To me, Britney Spears is a mirror we hold up to pop culture: We build her up, tear her down, root for her or against her. I think it says so much more about us as a culture than it does about Britney herself."[5]

Composition

Andrew Trendell of NME described "Young and Menace" as an industrial and EDM song, in contrast to the pop-punk and pop rock sound of the band’s previous album, American Beauty/American Psycho.[7] Anna Gaca of Spin described the song as bringing together "EDM drops" and "heavy metal bombast".[8] Britney Stapos of Rolling Stone described it as "harsh electro-rock".[2]

Music video

The music video for "Young and Menace" premiered on April 27, 2017 on Fall Out Boy's official Vevo and YouTube channels. A trailer ran for it briefly in select Chicago theatres on April 21, 2017.

The music video features a young biracial child suffering through domestic violence within their household. The child's parents are dressed as llama/alpaca puppet "monsters". Wentz has stated "The concept of the video is realizing that your place in the world is maybe not just what you thought it was growing up. I grew up as a weird kid in a place where I felt like I didn't fit it. It wasn't until punk/rock and stuff where I felt like I found other people [who] similarly didn't fit in."[9]

Personnel

Fall Out Boy

  • Patrick Stump – lead vocals, guitar, programming, songwriting, primary production
  • Pete Wentz – bass guitar, songwriting, primary production
  • Joe Trohman – lead guitar, songwriting, primary production
  • Andy Hurley – drums, percussion, songwriting, primary production

Additional personnel

  • Jesse Shatkin – production, mixing
  • Suzy Shinn – engineering
  • Rouble Kapoor – assistant engineering

Charts

References
  1. Payne, Chris. "Fall Out Boy Share New Song". Billboard. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  2. Stapos, Britney (April 27, 2017). "Fall Out Boy Preview New LP 'Mania' With Sinister 'Young and Menace' Video". Rolling Stone. Retrieved April 27, 2017. She then escapes to see the human world, an adventure ominously soundtracked by the harsh, electro-rock song that references Nikki Sixx and Britney Spears' "Oops!… I Did It Again."
  3. Bacle, Ariana. "What if I Told You ..." Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  4. Trendell, Andrew (April 28, 2017). "Fall Out Boy discuss 'extreme' new single 'Young And Menace' and their 'political' new album 'M A N I A'". NME. Retrieved June 16, 2018.
  5. Kaplan, Ilana (March 5, 2018). "Pete Wentz On The Britney Spears Lyric Removed From The New Fall Out Boy Album". Nylon. Retrieved June 16, 2018.
  6. McIntyre, Hugh (April 27, 2017). "Fall Out Boy Quotes Britney Spears On New Single 'Young And Menace'". Forbes. Retrieved June 16, 2018.
  7. Trendell, Andrew (27 April 2017). "Fall Out Boy unveil new song and video". NME. Retrieved April 27, 2017. Moving away from the punkier, rock n' roll sound of 'American Beatuty/American Psycho', 'Young And Menace' takes the band down a uprising, industrial EDM and electronic sound.
  8. Gaca, Anna (January 19, 2018). "Review: Fall Out Boy Have The Wrong Ideas About Pissing Off Punk Purists". Spin. Retrieved February 2, 2023. M A N I A stumbled out of the gate after missing its initial release date last September, following the muted reaction to early singles like "Young and Menace," which wedded EDM drops to heavy metal bombast.
  9. FallOutBoyVEVO (2017-05-16), Fall Out Boy - Young And Menace (Beyond The Video), retrieved 2017-05-27
  10. "ARIA Chart Watch #419". auspOp. May 6, 2017. Archived from the original on September 23, 2020. Retrieved May 6, 2017.
  11. "NZ Heatseekers Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. May 8, 2017. Retrieved May 5, 2017.
  12. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 6, 2017.
  13. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 6, 2017.
  14. "Fall Out Boy Chart History (Bubbling Under Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
  15. "Fall Out Boy Chart History (Hot Rock & Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
  16. "Hot Rock Songs – Year-End 2017". Billboard. Retrieved May 4, 2020.


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