Footage unearthed from 20 years ago shows popular synth-pop duo MGMT performing what has become one of their biggest hits, but fans are losing it over a small detail in the clip.
A now-viral video shows Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser as freshmen at Wesleyan University in 2003, playing an early version of their hit single Kids to a small crowd.
While many have marveled at how long ago the song came out, the duo’s pronunciation of its name has sent fans into a frenzy: They discovered it’s not em-gee-em-tee like MGMT’s lyrics, but it actually means ‘Management’. ‘
In the clip, which was shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, and TikTok, VanWyngarden is shown introducing the band by telling the crowd: “We are the Management.”
‘The address?’ to TikTok creator named Ryan O’Malley he responded incredulously.
‘I’ve been calling them MGMT my whole life!’ continuous. ‘Is your name Address?’
‘Is ACDC the aqueduct? What the fuck? concluded the short speech.
The video generated thousands of responses, some simply shocked and others sharing their hypotheses.
A now-viral video shows Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser when they were freshmen at Wesleyan University in 2003.
‘That’s from when they started. They changed it to MGMT because there was already a band called The Management. It’s now 100% pronounced “MGMT,” one user wrote.
“I refuse to take this information as fact,” another shared.
‘I work in HR. I’ve jokingly called them Management for years. I guess it’s a joke. a third commented.
Someone else gloated: ‘I called them Management when I first heard of them until I heard people calling them MGMT and I felt really embarrassed. My pretentious 20-year-old self would be so full of himself right now.’
The grainy images are sure to evoke immediate nostalgia, showing young men energetically jumping around a makeshift stage in a white dress shirt and slacks before a small crowd of students.
The full performance, divided into six parts, is available on YouTube uploaded by Rad Scientist.
Kids was released in 2007 and was the third and final single from their debut studio album Oracular Spectacular. They were nominated for the 2010 Grammy Award for Best New Artist and Kids waIt is nominated for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.
“We used to think about how to make the most stereotypical pop song and that’s one of the ones we made,” VanWyngarden told Q magazine after the release of Kids.
According to an article published by Vulture in 2008, the band’s label, Columbia, and a publicist told them that it is “definitely pronounced” em-gee-em-tee.
The video generated thousands of responses, some simply shocked and others sharing their hypotheses.
In an interview with The Independent, Goldwasser said that the song “was a result of us being 19, in this fantasy college world, which is a bit like childhood because you don’t have much responsibility.”
According to an article published by Vulture in 2008the band’s label, Columbia, and a publicist told them that “it’s definitely pronounced ‘Em Gee Em Tee.'”
Several sources noted that the band’s original name was The Management, but they shortened it to MGMT after discovering that another artist had the rights.
The Grammy-nominated song, which was officially released five years later, was a phenomenon in the early 2000s and made a comeback when Generation Z discovered the song; many were surprised to learn that it is more than 20 years old.
The band’s fifth studio album, Loss of Life, was released on February 23, 2024.