Fall Out Boy 'too pop for rock, too rock for pop'

Pete Wentz says Fall Out Boy’s joint tour with rapper Wiz Khalifa makes sense as both acts find themselves wedged between genres.

The bass player says FOB are “too pop for rock and too rock for pop” and believes Khalifa is in a similar situation in the hip hop world. And he reveals the band expect to write and record new music with Khalifa, which could see the light of day before the Boys Of Zummer tour begins in June.

Wentz tells Canoe.ca: “It feels sometimes like Fall Out Boy is an island right now. We’re too pop for rock and too rock for pop. Where do we fit into the whole thing?

“And looking at Wiz Khalifa, it kind of looks like a similar situation to him as far as hip hop and where he stands within it. He’s kind of in hip hop but he’s kind of in pop, and when you have a foot in both worlds it’s like you have a foot in neither.

“So it just made sense for us. And we’re going to do some music together that will hopefully get out before summer.”

The FOB and Khalifa Boys Of Zummer tour kicks off in New Jersey on June 10 and runs until August 10 when it wraps up in Los Angeles.

Wentz also discussed FOB’s massive hit single Centuries, which has become a staple for use on American sports TV shows since its release. The track feature son new album American Beauty/American Psycho.

He adds: “When we were going into writing this record we wanted to write songs that would made sense if we played them in arenas or stadiums because what we were shooting for is to be a contemporary rock band that is played both on the radio and can play arenas…a big task in itself.

“So maybe then that’s why it makes sense to 10,000 people when it gets played inside stadiums. I didn’t write it for that so it’s kind of strange. But my dad loves seeing highlight reels while they play Centuries.”

Khalifa released a remix of FOB’s track Uma Thurman as part of the tour announcement.

Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.