"Young and Menace" is a song by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Fall Out Boy Fall Out Boy is an American rock band formed in Wilmette, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, in 2001. The band consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Patrick Stump, bassist Pete Wentz, lead guitarist Joe Trohman, and drummer Andy Hurle ...

, 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''. The music video was released simultaneously with the single.

Background

In deciding what "Young and Menace" would sound like,

Pete Wentz Peter Lewis Kingston Wentz III (born June 5, 1979) is an American musician best known as the bassist and lyricist for the rock band Fall Out Boy since 2001. Before Fall Out Boy, Wentz was a fixture of the Chicago hardcore scene and was the lea ...

took inspiration from artists he admires like

The Clash The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the w ...

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

, and

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

whose musical direction evolved over time. Wentz told Andrew Trendell of ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' that the original version of the song was so "extreme" and "chaotic" that "It sounded like a 1990's

modem A modulator-demodulator or modem is a computer hardware device that converts data from a digital format into a format suitable for an analog transmission medium such as telephone or radio. A modem transmits data by Modulation#Digital modulati ...

. It didn't even sound like music. So we reigned it in from there." The band felt that the track might not be radio-friendly, but that it could resonate with the wider culture. 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. The finished song still name-drops Spears' single " Oops!... I Did It Again" (2000). Wentz told ''

Nylon Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers composed of polyamides ( repeating units linked by amide links).The polyamides may be aliphatic or semi-aromatic. Nylon is a silk-like thermoplastic, generally made from pe ...

'' 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."

Music video

The music video for "Young and Menace" premiered on April 27, 2017 on

's official

Vevo Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, ...

and

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

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 hosimilarly didn't fit in."

Personnel

Fall Out Boy * Patrick Stump – lead vocals, guitar, programming, songwriting, primary production *

– bass guitar, songwriting, primary production * Joe Trohman – lead guitar, songwriting, primary production *

Andy Hurley Andrew John Hurley (born May 31, 1980) is an American musician. He is the drummer for the rock band Fall Out Boy. Prior to Fall Out Boy, Hurley played in several hardcore punk bands. He joined Fall Out Boy as the full-time drummer in 2003 and ...

– drums, percussion, songwriting, primary production Additional personnel * Jesse Shatkin – production, mixing * Suzy Shinn – engineering * Rouble Kapoor – assistant engineering

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

2017 songs 2017 singles Electronic dance music songs Electronic rock songs Fall Out Boy songs Island Records singles Songs written by Patrick Stump Songs written by Pete Wentz Songs written by Andy Hurley Songs written by Joe Trohman {{2010s-pop-song-stub