Fall Out Boy frontman Patrick Stump on 50 Cent’s appearance on the bill of their tour, which kicks off tonight: “We’ve encountered a little bit of negative feelings about it,” he says, “but I think that you should challenge your audience a little bit. And I think the reality is that, OK, if you don’t like 50 Cent, if you’re that stuck-up that you’re going to stand there and hate him actively, then go to the concession stand during (his set). Go get a T-shirt or go to the bathroom if that’s how you feel. Otherwise, challenge yourself.” Nice try, pal. But you’re wrong.
Listen, I’m all for mixing it up a bit with your tour. I saw both the strange Sisters of Mercy/Public Enemy/Gang of Four bill in 1991, and the 1997 disaster with the Wu-Tang Clan with Rage Against the Machine and Atari Teenage Riot; neither one was probably a great idea on paper. It’s one thing to expose your fans to a type of music you appreciate and enjoy or an artist they might not be aware of, but we’re talking about 50 Cent here. Any person who listens to popular music in the United States, especially the kids that are likely to attend a Fall Out Boy show in the first place, has probably had an opportunity to form an opinion about 50 Cent at this point.
Look, if you want to bring a guy on tour, that’s fine. Or if your label asks you to help jumpstart a fading rap star’s new album by letting him open a few dates, fine. However, please don’t pretend that you’re doing your audience a favor by giving them a chance to challenge their aesthetic sensibilities… with 50 Cent. There are tens of thousands of other acts you could have picked to accomplish that goal.
Fall Out Boy Takes 50 Cent On Tour [Billboard]
The U2/Public Enemy/Big Audio Dynamite tour was pretty great, I thought.
They should’ve picked the Jonas Brothers. Then I would actually be tempted to go to a FOB concert.
Mr. Gibson, you actually saw the Sisters of Mercy/Public Enemy tour back in the day!!! I am so jealous because that show was cancelled before it made it to my home town of Montreal. My sister and I were very disappointed since we were really looking forward to seeing both of the bands but I don’t think many other people thought it was a good idea.
This isn’t necessarily true. There is a subset of Fall Out Boy fans who like “anything but rap and country.” Sure, I don’t want 50 Cent to be the standard-bearer of contemporary hip-hop to that crowd, either, but certainly will be some people going to these shows who will have to reckon with a FOB endorsement of an artist whose music is of a genre they categorically ignore.
At the same time, I’m all for calling BS on the “challenging your audience” pitch here, because — yeah — clearly that’s not what this is actually about, whether or not said audience may actually be challenged.
We’ve talked about it in letters
And we’ve talked about it on the phone
But how you really feel about it
I don’t really know
WHAT’S YR TAKE ON CURTIS JACKSON?
WHAT’S YR TAKE ON CURTIS JACKSON?
WHAT’S YR TAKE ON CURTIS JACKSON?
WHAT’S YR TAKE ON CURTIS JACKSON?
MISOGYNIST? GENIUS? MISOGYNIST? GENIUS?
MISOGYNIST? GENIUS? MISOGYNIST? GENIUS?
Dan, maybe you got one of the bum shows, but the Wu-Tang Clan with Rage Against the Machine and Atari Teenage Riot show in Detroit was AMAZING.
Dan, maybe you got one of the bum shows, but the Wu-Tang Clan with Rage Against the Machine and Atari Teenage Riot show in Detroit was AMAZING.
Dan, maybe you got one of the bum shows, but the Wu-Tang Clan with Rage Against the Machine and Atari Teenage Riot show in Detroit was AMAZING.
Dan, maybe you got one of the bum shows, but the Wu-Tang Clan with Rage Against the Machine and Atari Teenage Riot show in Detroit was AMAZING.
Dan, maybe you got one of the bum shows, but the Wu-Tang Clan with Rage Against the Machine and Atari Teenage Riot show in Detroit was AMAZING.
Seriously though, Metro Station is AWFUL and I’d much rather 50 Cent instead. I wish he was going to be at the FOB shows I’ll be at.
@Maura Johnston: Crying with laughter.
Wow. Shitty live hip-hop opening up for shitty guitar-pop. Where do I buy ticketzzzzzzz.
@Maura Johnston:
wow. THAT was hillarious! Must dust off that track as soon as I get home.
But seriously folks, 50 Cent and Fall Out Boy? That’s like 2Pac touring with Blink 182 or Simple Plan.
@Maura Johnston: Messiah? Alcoholic?
@Tauwan: Now why you gotta dis Pac like that?
@lempha: 50 Cent is the specific rapper those people are thinking about when they say “Anything but rap or country!”
@T’Challa: The Wu had dropped off the tour the the date before I saw them, but Rage were incredible.
Possibly one of the most inappropriate pairings since Peeping Tom opened for The Who?
@Maura Johnston: Hooray for that!
I had tickets to see Sisters/PE/ G of 4 on that tour, but it got canceled before it made it to LA… but I did see Sisters and Atari Teenage Riot together once and it almost made up for it!
@phaballa: That’s what I’m saying!! Except I’d rather not have any FOB with my JB, come to think of it.
That said…I can honestly say I have never really heard 50 Cent. I am not even averse to rap or any kind of music. He’s just not on my radar…is that weird? But I could also say almost the same of FOB. Not 100% unfamiliar, but disinterested. They’re just somewhat in my musical blindspot.
I could not agree with you more. Tours with artists who clearly have extremely different core fan bases are a terrible idea when these artists are as well known as Patrick Stump and 50 Cent. However, this pairing may not be for favors to a record label or exposing new people to music. It is possible that they are touring together because they are unable to play their desired venues alone at this point in time. With the economy in shambles people are less willing to pay for over priced tickets, therefore, a good way for both Stump and 50 Cent to play large venues while making a profit is to tour together knowing that their fans may not like both of their sets. The Stump/50 Cent combo is just ridiculous in my opinion even though both are part of the popular music genre, just different ends of the spectrum. There may be a few people at this particular show that do not know anything but popular music and are fans of both, but a great amount of the people at the concert will, as you said, “go to the concession stand during [50 Cent's set].” Also, this pairing is not the brightest choice for both because as a rock fan I know that pop/punk rockers are not typically big enough fans of club banger music to want to see it live. There’s a big difference between the mix on your CD or iPod and a concert. However, since we are talking about bands touring together, there is an interesting combo set to tour in the near future: Nine Inch Nails and Jane’s Addiction. This combo is unlikely because Nine Inch Nails produces electronica music and Jane’s Addiction is rock/funk, but the paring is understandable at the same time. You won’t have as many people “hating actively” during their sets if they are there to see just one of the acts. Both bands came up in the 80’s and 90’s, their music is more similar than the Stump/50 Cent pairing, and they probably share some of their audience members. Big name acts like 50 Cent and Patrick Stump should really tour with acts more similar to their own while at the same time different when they are making efforts to expand their fan bases.
Was that a weak attempt to hype up the NIN / Janes tour?