Скачать или смотреть Rae Sremmurd Talent Show Performance (Before The Fame)

With a name that sounded like a single, quirkily named child and a discography that, when “No Flex Zone” premiered on Noisey earlier this year, was exactly one song deep, Rae Sremmurd initially seemed like they might be a gimmick. And even though “No Flex Zone” has since reached 20 million views on YouTube and its follow-up, “No Type,” has attracted nearly 10 million YouTube views, there’s still a risk that the group could end up as a rap history footnote. Rae Sremmurd look younger than their 19 and 20 years; the act they get compared to—and bristle at being compared to—the most is Kriss Kross, the duo who made “Jump” at ages 12 and 13. When I first heard them, on the song “We” on Mike WiLL Made It’s #MikeWiLLBeenTrill compilation earlier this year, the schtick was almost off-putting: Why were these guys who seemingly were not old enough to even convincingly sneak into a club shouting lyrics like “you, grab the Ciroc!”?

Rae Sremmurd know what they’re doing, though. When we met, they had none of the sullenness of musicians dealing with a sudden rush of fame, instead describing their lives with a goofy and unforced charm. In addition to his skateboard, Slim Jimmy was also rocking a pair of Gucci ski goggles. His younger brother, who goes by Swae Lee, animatedly acted out the process of moving mattresses at the mattress factory where they used to work. Whenever he had to describe boilerplate trap rap, freestyled parodies seemed to spring into his head. The two are natural entertainers, and the more context that emerges about them, the clearer it is that they are savvy innovators rather than simply a couple kids Mike WiLL was forcing bottles of Hennessy on in the name of art before their voices even dropped.