Music Review: 'SremmLife2'

With their second full-length LP “SremmLife 2,” rap duo Rae Sremmurd—who performed at Duke’s Last Day of Classes concert April—proves that their brand of poppy, party rap is not limited to the catchy hooks which characterized their earlier work.

The Atlanta natives received relative acclaim for their debut “SremmLife,” with critics praising the pair’s energy and distinctly unabashed approach to writing bars for parties. Songs like “No Type” and “No Flex Zone” both relied on strong hooks composed by the low-level screams of the two brothers in the group. “SremmLife 2,” however, relies on more varied production techniques than their debut, as an experienced group of producers, including Mike Will Made It, DJ Mustard and A+, provide a wide range of sounds for Swae Lee and Slim Jxmmi to swagger their way through.

The album starts with “Start a Party,” with a wall of feedback and what sounds like a hospital monitor beeping and then devolves into a more standard trap beat as the brothers yelp their way through chaotic bars about how to, well, party. The feedback disappears over the next several tracks as the production spaces out, with extraterrestrial synths accompanying the constant trap snare in “Real Chill” and “By Chance.”

The production is what saves the brothers, as neither Swae Lee and Slim Jxmmi have particularly interesting flows or bars, but the accompanying production allows the two to mask their weaknesses with their energy and their strong hooks. Take “Black Beatles,” which features keyboards lifted straight out of an ‘80s pop ballad. The keyboards buoy a sung Swae Lee hook and three lackluster verses about women and alcohol from the brothers and the evermore prolific Gucci Mane. The production is bizarre and unexpected for such a shallow banger, and demonstrates how the brothers should probably pay their producers more than their contract stipulates.

Sometimes, however, even the production can’t save the brothers from their unoriginality and voices, which can sometimes veer into a grating whine that suggests that the brothers are 16, rather than 21 and 23. DJ Mustard’s signature g-funk bass synths anchor “Set the Roof,” but a painfully 2002-era crunk hook from Lil Jon emphasizes that one of the main strengths of Rae Sremmurd falls in their ability to flow from hook to verse to hook—and when one of those parts is faulty, their songs fall flat.

The brothers venture beyond their typical sounds on several occasions, however, with Swae Lee taking the reigns on “Now That I Know” to deliver a sung, OVO Sound-ing ballad with a lackluster Slim Jxmmi verse. The album closes with “Do Yoga,” where the brothers extol the virtues of meditation and marijuana over another alien-sounding Mike Will beat.

Rae Sremmurd’s sophomore effort is surely more interesting than their first, but without the production offered by an accomplished set of producers with a vested interest in the group’s success (they are signed to Mike Will’s label), the brothers would be yet another shallow party-rap group. However, with the help of this production, they manage to channel their strengths and make something a little more interesting than expected—though it would still be great at a party.