In their never-ending quest to secure ‘hood status, Fall Out Boy have tapped Babyface as a producer on their Infinity on High album, recruited Def Jam honcho Jay-Z to drop a verse on the upcoming disc and spent copious interview space praising the lyrical skills of Lil Wayne.
And yet, none of those things seemed to land them the cred they so desperately sought . So in a move that’s bound to leave fans on both sides of the aisle pumped yet flustered, they’ve turned to Kanye West to remix the first single from Infinity, “This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race.”
“I ran into Kanye at some fashion show in California. He was like, ‘We should hang out some time!’ ” FOB bassist Pete Wentz said. “It turns out he’s one of my neighbors in California. So he called me and [frontman] Patrick [Stump] up one day and invited us over to his place. We went, and he played us new songs and we played him some of ours. And he agreed to do a remix for us.
“I think he’s gonna do an ‘Arms Race’ remix and maybe do a verse on it or something. And then we’re gonna do something with one of his new songs,” he continued. “I love everything he’s done, from his mixtape stuff to ‘Jesus Walks,’ and I have to say the new Kanye stuff is going to blow everyone away next year.”
A spokesperson for West could not be reached for comment about the collaboration, but according to Wentz, FOB have already sent their track to the rapper/producer and he’s “starting on the remix right now.”
It’s not immediately clear where – or when – Kanye’s reworked version of “Arms Race” will appear, though Wentz and company would love to have it on Infinity. But with less than three weeks until the album hits stores, that may not be possible – which wouldn’t be the first time scheduling has scuttled a potential Fall Out Boy/ Kanye collaboration.
“We were actually supposed to appear in his ‘Touch the Sky’ video as reporters, but we were in Europe when it was being filmed,” Wentz said. “And for this, I’m not sure where we’re going to put it yet. I mean, I’d love to put it on the record, but the timing is insane, so we’ll see. I’m sure it will pop up somewhere.”