Rae Sremmurd Returns on “Sremm4Life” 2023
RAE SREMMURD begins parties first. The Tupelo, Mississippi, brothers’ effervescent personality and Mike WiLL Made-slick It’s production made their 2015 debut, SremmLife, a hit with hits like “No Flex Zone,” “This Could Be Us,” and “No Type,” still club classics today. They also led viral challenges like “Black Beatles.”
Swae Lee and Slim Jxmmi last collaborated some years ago. Sremm4Life, a tight statement from the two that continues to build and expand their own musical universe, follows 2018’s SR3MM, which was primarily a gentle debut of their individual careers.
Swae Lee and Slim Jxmmi’s fourth album continues the pleasant feelings.
Their recent songs demonstrate the brothers’ dual personalities: Slim Jxmmi’s grit complements Swae Lee’s sung-rap. “Origami,” a hazy ode to all their “hotties” past, present, and future, begs the pertinent question, “How you have a party/And not invite us?” We all requested in their absence. “Royal Flush” is addicting with its horn-driven loop and Sremm-esque one-liners (“I just pooped on my ex/Now that’s a royal flush”).
The lads’ romanticism drives the album. That made songs like “This Could Be Us” timeless. “Tanisha (Pump That)” is a sugary pop hit that sticks in your head. Slim Jxmmi starts “Flaunt It/Cheap” with a fast rhyme over record scratches until Swae Lee slows it down. It’s a party staple. “You can tell I believe I’m sexy/And regular things simply don’t impress me/And I can’t smoke no reggie/Do what I want ’cause I’m sexy” injects some humor and enjoyment into the center of the Album.
In their fourth album, Swae Lee and Slim Jxmmi maintain the positive energy they’ve established.
The quintet is definitely having the most fun linguistically updating the Eighties and Nineties hip-hop beats on the record. They should eventually follow that thread. In between such blatantly fantastic moments, tunes like “Bend Yo Knees” lose their appeal and become TikTok-bait.
“ADHD Anthem (Too Many Emotions)” concludes with industrial emo. A infectious depressive banger, the song is unlike Rae Sremmurd. Only Slim Jxmmi and Swae Lee can execute it well.
