Rae Sremmurd – “Sremmlife”

Here’s the truth.

The only reason why I decided to check out this album was because of Vine.

In the past eight months, I’ve grown fond of the social media app. Rae’s songs, “No Flex Zone” and “No Type” are everywhere on that app: exhibit A.

I mean don’t get me wrong, I would’ve caught on eventually but Vine spearheaded my introduction to Rae with the constant appearance of “No Type” in videos. “No Type” was almost instantly dope. I quickly fell in love with that thunderous beat. It’s flawless.

Plus, when I realized what Narwuar said in an interview, my head exploded. Nardwuar did some research and realized the entire beat is only seven sounds. Mike Will, surprised at Nard’s analysis, couldn’t help but be in awe, as he gave a nod.

Not only is the beat crazy, the hook is catchy too. People go nuts when this comes on and recite the lyrics. The hook is too easy to recite and fun to say, I dare you to stop yourself from joining the sing along.

What else can I say to compliment it that I haven’t said?

Nothing.

My initial thoughts on “No Type” lead me to the album. So I went ahead, and checked it out.

I immediately realized that this album was full of catchy, fun rap songs. Songs like “Come and Get Her,” “Throw Sum Mo,” and “YNO” have a gravitation pull to them and make you join in in the reciting of the hook.

“Come and Get Her” and “Throw Sum Mo” provide easy to rap along hooks. Hell, even Young Thug’s mumbling guest verse on the latter is dope. Although it’s unintelligible, I still fuck with it. When he starts his rapid fire flow, you can’t help but fuck with it.

Nicki on the hook was a great complement to the three rappers because the hook fit her perfectly. The “ass fat” and “bad bitches” go hand-in-hand with what she would rap in a verse. That confidence when she says, “yeah I know” is crazy like she’s signaling that you should throw money at her.

“YNO” has banging beat. Mike Will with that “fire emoji.” The song’s content is full of inspiration. Both Swae Lee and Slim Jimmy—I still can’t tell who is who, no disrespect—both speak about not having support as they were grinding trying to make something of themselves. Luckily, their hard work and struggles lead them to Mike Will, who worked with and provided a platform to make this dope album. The song is a big “FUCK YOU” to the haters and doubters, now Swae and Jimmy are living the life many can only envision.

The rags to riches story will never get old.

Big Sean provided a guest verse. However, for some reason, I felt like Sean didn’t want to do the verse. I think it was a tradeoff. Mike Will gave him the “Paradise” beat in exchange for this guest verse. His verse is unenergetic. Usually he gets into the verse and gives off some energy but not here. Also, his flow is sort of lazy. After all that, I still liked Big Sean’s verse.

“No Flex Zone” and “Lit Like Bic (Intro)“ were full of bass knocking beats. They’re okay. The screaming on the latter was cool. It shows energy, excitement. Dude was rapping and yelling at the top of his lungs.

“Safe Sex and Pay Checks” is another party starter/party anthem. The song is all about having a good time, much like the rest of the album. I can picture fun times occurring while this song blasts through the speakers in the background.

My favorite song of the album is “This Could Be Us.”

That piano is dope. I like the harmonizing in the beginning too. The song is based around the phrase popularized on Twitter and in memes. The phrase comes from wanting to be with someone but they are unaware or uninterested in forming a relationship with someone. I just really like it!

The beat on “Unlock The Swag” is incredible, not a surprise. Both members of Rae provided a decent outing but I have to give Jace of Two-9—I’m not sure whom he or his group are even though I have one of their mixtapes in my iTunes library. His verse stood out above the other two. And it rivals Sean’s as the best guest verse on this album.

The only disappointments on the album, which I knew they’d be, were “My X” and “Up Like Trump.” For one reason or another, I just couldn’t fuck with them. Although, both did contained monstrous, go ape-shit type beats. Both Young Chop and Sonny Digital provided heat.

Overall, I’m glad I checked out the album. These dudes are just some young dudes making good music for fun occasions, you can’t hate on that. Well, maybe some of you can. The beats helped out a lot but there verses weren’t horrible, even the times where their voices were high pitched, it was still dope.

The album is currently in my favorites for the year, and I cannot wait for the sequel lead by Mike Will’s production.