A few weeks ago while I was at the Twenty One Pilots concert, I overheard a group of high school girls talking about how they'd seen a guy on the way in wearing a Fall Out Boy T-shirt. One of the girls then proceeded to say "Fall Out Boy totally sold out, they're not even good anymore!"

This statement really bothered me because I love FOB, they're my top favorite band and their music has meant a lot to me over the years. This isn't the first time I've heard something along these lines in reference to the band. A guy from Tinder once told me that he stopped listening to FOB after they came back from their hiatus because "they weren't the same."

First off, to each their own. If you don't enjoy FOB's music then that's fine; it's your prerogative. My issue is the fact that the people who make these statements use the terms "sell out" and "not the same" as if those are bad things. Sure, no one wants to be called a sell out because of the negative connotations, but it can easily be another term for success. People are only considered sell outs when they have reached some form of success, but have changed or compromised a part of themselves or their morals in some way to attain it.

Now, FOB has been in the game for a long time, with 7 studio albums and a few EPs under their belts, not to mention a few solo projects by the band members along the way; they know what works and what doesn't in the music world. They have built amazing careers for themselves while managing to stay true to who they are as a band. When they felt that integrity being compromised, they took a break to figure things out.

Hearing the high school kids talk about the band like that made me want to say something along the lines of "you were like 2 when the started out, what do you even know about their career!?" I'm petty like that, but I bit my tongue because if they feel that way, that's their problem. To me, FOB didn't sell out. They evolved, which is exactly what they should be doing as artists, because their fans are evolving too. The fans they started out with aren't the same people they were 15 years ago, just like FOB isn't the same band they were 15 years ago. They've all grown, tastes have changed, and styles that were popular back then aren't as popular now.

"Take This To Your Grave" was a great album that set the bar for just about every band that came after them in that genre, but that doesn't mean we want to hear them make the same album again. In the creative world, just because something works doesn't mean you keep repeating it because eventually you'll get tired of doing it and others will get tired of consuming it. There were some people who weren't into "Folie á Deux", which I've always found strange because it's my number one favorite FOB album. In my opinion, it's the album that you can listen to and point out the distinct change from their previous albums. There was just something about it that really spoke to me in a way the others didn't. This isn't to say that I didn't like the others, because I've loved everything they've done so far. As an artist, it's best to keep trying new things and testing your limits because there isn't just one way to create, and you can't please everyone.

After their hiatus, people thought they were too mainstream because of their collaborations with hip-hop artists and their songs being played at sports events. But, isn't the goal, when creating any kind of art, to reach as many people as possible? Musicians want their music to be heard, that's the whole point of making it and touring and all that. It's selfish, as a fan, to want to keep a band your little secret, or keep them hidden from the world because you think popularity will ruin them or what you find special about them. Why wouldn't you want others to discover a band that you love? If their music can speak to new fans and mean something the way it means something to you, isn't that a good thing?

Since their comeback, FOB has created great music, different from their old sound but just as powerful. Fall Out Boy didn't sell out, they followed their dreams and became successful.