True story: The night of Heath Ledger’s death — so, Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008 — yours truly went to a local Chicago diner with some friends (which included senior writer Dan Caffrey), where we all celebrated the outstanding career of the then-future Joker over burgers, fries, malts, what have you. Hours later, the night pivoted a little when someone noticed Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz ordering some food in a nearby booth with what appeared to be his own detail.

Now, why is this important? Well, it’s not, though at the time, none of us realized we were in the presence of a would-be prophet. Because, if we’re to take his recent interview with NME into consideration, Wentz might be a Pop Culture Nostradamus.



While discussing the ensuing decline of rock ‘n’ roll, at least on a mainstream level, Wentz clairvoyantly pointed out that it’s “on the backburner,” stating:

“Over here in the US, hip-hop is super exciting for kids. I’ll be looking at my Snapchat on Coachella and that is rock n’ roll right now – it’s hip hop. I think that if rock music wants to be culturally relevant on a mass level you have to be open to updating it and changing it and making it a little weird. If you don’t it becomes quaint. That’s not what we’ve ever really been into.”

No argument there, though here’s where his revelation falls into a dark, murky abyss…

“The interesting thing is that when I talk to like my rock friends, they’re like, ‘The next Nirvana is coming, the next Nirvana is coming’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah, but the next Nirvana probably is coming, but not in the form of Nirvana. It might be like Jaden Smith or, I dunno. The reason Nirvana was a genre-killer is that it was a wave that came from nowhere. Looking for something that sounds like that is not gonna work.”

To be fair, Wentz was simply using Smith as an easy way to argue that that it could be anyone, but then again, why does it always go back to Nirvana with these guys? Countless musicians have started a movement and captured the world since the Seattle trio came and went — everyone from Beyoncé to Taylor Swift to Kanye West to Adele.

So, yeah, that comparison has always been futile, and Wentz would likely agree. Though, since we’re on the topic of Smith, it should be noted the former After Earth star isn’t immune to ludicrous statements. For instance, he seemed pretty game with the idea that Yeezy is the new Walt Disney…