Jack Antonoff Talks Jay-Z, Kanye West Version of Fun’s ‘We Are Young’

Maybe Jack Antonoff was destined to have unhealthy blood with Kanye West even earlier than he grew to become finest pals with Taylor Swift.

Antonoff, 40, shared how Enjoyable.’s “We Are Younger” almost ended up on Watch The Throne, the 2011 collaborative album from West and Jay-Z, whereas talking with Nardwuar in an interview printed on Could 9. Antonoff, who performed guitar within the band, mentioned that the track’s producer, Jeff Bhasker, was additionally engaged on Watch the Throne on the time. “We have been instructed that the refrain was taken and that Jay-Z and Kanye had made the track,” mentioned Antonoff.

Antonoff mentioned that “We Are Younger” was a part of the monitor record that leaked forward of Watch the Throne’s August 2011 launch date. Nevertheless, it wasn’t included within the album’s ultimate lineup.

“The story, I heard, is that Jay-Z thought it was too pop, which he might have been proper because it finish[ed] up turning into a giant pop track,” mentioned Antonoff.

Bhasker supplied some readability on how West and Jay-Z received the track first when talking to MTV Information in 2013. Bhasker supplied the “We Are Younger” beat to West and Jay-Z, with the intention of them rapping over it.

“Every part will get modified on the final minute,” mentioned Bhasker in 2013. “I used to be working with them on Watch the Throne after I met Nate [Ruess] and I mentioned, ‘Perhaps you guys need to mess with this,’ and he actually favored it loads. Ultimately, it didn’t fairly match on [Watch the Throne] as a result of it’s a giant pop track on an album they wished to have an undergroundness and counter-culture sensibility.”

“We Are Younger” grew to become Enjoyable.’s signature track, hitting No. 1 on the Billboard Sizzling 100 in 2011 and finally being licensed diamond (indicating it offered over 10 million copies). The group — Antonoff, Ruess and Andrew Dost — would have comparable success the next 12 months, with “Some Nights” reaching No. 3 on the Sizzling 100. Enjoyable. went on hiatus in 2015. Ruess went solo, Dost grew to become a music instructor in his native Michigan and Antonoff began his band Bleachers.

Concerning the Watch the Throne model of “We Are Younger,” Antonoff says he’s “by no means heard this track.” He additionally mentioned that he heard rumors about why it was shelved. “Somebody at Roc Nation or somebody down the road [said] — the one bit of data that I’ve received to listen to of the Jay-Z model of ‘We Are Younger’ is that he shouts one thing like, ‘Lighters up. I’m the king of Bonnaroo, I’m the king of Coachella.’”

“And I don’t assume I’ll ever hear this track,” added Antonoff. “And at this level, I don’t need to.”

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Watch the Throne arrived in August 2011. Enjoyable launched “We Are Younger” in September of that 12 months because the lead single of their 2012 album Some Nights. In November 2012, Antonoff met with Swift on the MTV Europe Music Awards, beginning a private friendship {and professional} partnership.

Elsewhere within the Nardwuar interview (across the 14:52 mark), they mentioned “Jersey Boy,” a track by The Unloveables. “In [the song], they reference Taylor…” says Nardwuar, pausing to provide Antonoff time to complete the sentence. On the point out of “Taylor,” Antonoff winces barely whereas smiling awkwardly for six seconds of strained silence. Nardwaur repeats the query, saying that the track “references Taylor…”

“…ham?” asks Antonoff, and that was appropriate.

Antonoff was considerably relieved. In March, he ended an interview with a Dutch publication once they requested him to reveal any secrets and techniques about Swift’s The Tortured Poets Division, which hadn’t been launched but.

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As a substitute of strolling out on Nardwaur, Antonoff shared a narrative involving the opposite Taylor in his life. “When Taylor Swift performed New Jersey, the federal government did a ‘Taylor Ham’ f—king meme about her and I used to be explaining it to her,” he mentioned. Pork roll (generally known as Taylor Ham) is a breakfast meat beloved by New Jerseyans.

Antonoff then went right into a passionate second concerning the “Taylor Ham vs. Pork Roll” debate in New Jersey, as completely different components of the state argue whether or not to name the foodstuff “pork roll” or “Taylor Ham.” Antonoff says he calls it “nothing” as a result of he doesn’t eat pork for breakfast.