"Fat Lip" is a song by Canadian

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band

Sum 41 Sum 41 was a Canadian rock band formed in Ajax, Ontario, in 1996. The band's final lineup consisted of Deryck Whibley (lead vocals, guitars, keyboards), Dave Baksh (lead guitar, backing vocals), Jason McCaslin (bass, backing vocals), Tom T ...

. It is the fourth track on their debut album, '' All Killer No Filler'' (2001), and was released as the lead single in April 2001. It is the band's most successful single to date, topping the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-playe ...

chart. It peaked at number 66 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and at number eight on the UK Singles Chart.

Background and composition

"Fat Lip" was written by Sum 41 members Deryck Whibley,

Steve Jocz Stephen Jocz (born July 23, 1981), also known as Stevo32 (or simply Stevo), is a Canadian drummer and YouTuber, best known as the founding drummer for the rock band Sum 41. Biography Jocz joined Sum 41 in 1996. He graduated from Exeter High ...

and Dave Brownsound, and in-house producer Greig Nori, with production by Jerry Finn. The song gets its title from the slang term for a swollen lip as a result of being punched in the face. "It was the last song I had written for ''All Killer'' 'No Filler''/nowiki>," Whibley told ''

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several awar ...

'' in 2021. "The whole album was pretty much done. It was never meant to be a single. It wasn't even supposed to be a song. The very, very first thing I wrote was the guitar riff. And I didn't necessarily write it for this idea that I had for this sort of punk rock-rap kind of thing. I knew I had this old school rap idea mixed with punk rock sort of stuff, but I wrote this riff just as a riff. And then I ended up writing a chorus, like, months later. And then I had this verse. And none of them were supposed to be together. They were just separate things that I was writing over time. And then one day it kind of clicked, and I thought, 'Well, these all kind of work. They're all around the same tempo, they're all the same key.' I changed a few things and made it work, now all of a sudden I was like, 'OK, I've got the rap part, I've got a riff, and I've got a chorus.' But I don’t have the rest of the song. And then it took a long time before pieces just kind of came together." The

uptempo A variety of musical terms is encountered in printed scores, music reviews, and program notes. Most of the terms are Italian, in accordance with the Italian origins of many European musical conventions. Sometimes, the special musical meanings ...

song has been described as

pop punk Pop-punk (also punk-pop, alternatively spelled without the hyphen) is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop music, pop. It is defined by its fast-paced, energetic tempos, and emphasis on classic pop s ...

skate punk Skate punk (also known as skatecore and skate rock) is a skateboarding, skater subculture and punk rock Music genre, subgenre that developed in the 1980s. Originally a form of hardcore punk that had been closely associated with skate culture, sk ...

rap rock Rap rock is a music genre that developed from the early to mid-1980s, when hip hop DJs incorporated rock records into their routines and rappers began incorporating original and sampled rock instrumentation into hip hop music. Rap rock is co ...

and

easycore Pop-punk (also punk-pop, alternatively spelled without the hyphen) is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop. It is defined by its fast-paced, energetic tempos, and emphasis on classic pop songcraft, ...

, with Whibley, Brownsound, and Jocz sharing vocal duties. "The verses are really about what we do: growing up in the suburbs, going to parties and hanging out with our friends, and causing trouble. A lot of people say they relate to it," said Whibley. Brian Hiatt of MTV.com described the song as "pop-punk-meets-hip-hop", ''

Loudwire ''Loudwire'' is an American online media magazine that covers news of hard rock and heavy metal artists. It is owned by media and entertainment business Townsquare Media. Since its launch in August 2011, ''Loudwire'' has secured exclusive i ...

'' cited it as a containing elements of

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

and ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...

'' cited it as using elements of heavy metal. The song has also been described to be "Mixing elements of skate punk,

nu-metal Nu metal (sometimes stylized as nü-metal, with a metal umlaut) is a subgenre of that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop, funk, industrial, and grunge. Nu metal rarely features guita ...

, and good old-fashioned pop"

Music video

The music video was directed by Marc Klasfeld. The song topped MTV's ''

Total Request Live ''Total Request Live'' (commonly abbreviated as ''TRL'') is an American television program that premiered on MTV on September 14, 1998. The early version of ''TRL'' featured popular music videos played during its countdown and was also used as ...

'' and

MuchMusic Much is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. It is headquartered at 299 Queen Street West in what was o ...

's '' MuchMusic Countdown'' in mid-2001. In the original Canadian version, the music video combines with fellow ''All Killer No Filler'' track "Pain for Pleasure", a very short

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris (musician), Steve Harris. Although fluid in the early years of the band, the line-up for most ...

-esque song which is the final song on the album. The video, filmed in

Pomona, California Pomona ( ) is a city in eastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. Pomona is located in the Pomona Valley, between the Inland Empire and the San Gabriel Valley. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city's population was ...

, was ranked at number 75 on MuchMusic's 100 Best Videos. At the beginning of the music video, the band performs an

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

of the first half of the first verse of "

It's What We're All About "What We're All About" (titled "It's What We're All About" on the single cover) is a song by Canadian rock band Sum 41. It was released in April 2002 as a single for the soundtrack to the film ''Spider-Man (2002 film), Spider-Man''. Composition ...

"—which would be their future single— with Jason McCaslin

beatboxing Beatboxing (also, and sometimes, called beat boxing) is a form of vocal percussion primarily involving the art of mimicking drum machines (usually a Roland TR-808, TR-808), using one's mouth, lips, tongue, and voice.liquor store A liquor store is a retail business that predominantly sells prepackaged alcoholic beverages, including liquors (typically in bottles), wine or beer, usually intended to be consumed off the store's premises. Depending on region and local idiom ...

Live performances

The song was performed on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'' on October 6, 2001, hosted by

Seann William Scott Seann William Scott (born October 3, 1976) is an American actor. In film, Scott is best known for his breakout role as Steve Stifler in the ''American Pie'' film series (1999–2012). He also starred in a lead role as Doug Glatt in '' Goon'' (2 ...

Track listings

Canadian and Australian CD single # "Fat Lip" – 3:02 # " Makes No Difference" – 3:10 # "What I Believe" – 2:49 # "Machine Gun" – 2:29 UK CD single # "Fat Lip" (radio/clean edit) – 3:02 # "Crazy Amanda Bunkface" (live) # "Machine Gun" (live) # "Fat Lip" (CD-ROM video) UK cassette single # "Fat Lip" (radio/clean edit) # "Crazy Amanda Bunkface" (live) UK DVD single # "Fat Lip" (video) # "Pain for Pleasure" (audio) # "Meet the Pain" (video) European CD single # "Fat Lip" – 3:02 # "Makes No Difference" – 3:10

Personnel

* Deryck Whibley – lead and backing vocals, rhythm guitar * Dave Baksh – lead guitar, co-lead and backing vocals * Jason McCaslin – bass guitar *

– drums, co-lead vocals

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Notes

References

{{Authority control 2001 songs 2001 singles Island Records singles Rap rock songs Songs written by Dave Baksh Songs written by Deryck Whibley Songs written by Greig Nori Songs written by Steve Jocz Sum 41 songs