Rae Sremmurd – SremmLife

★★★

Swae Lee and Slim Jimmy are a pair of brothers from Tupelo, Mississippi that make pretty straightforward southern rap based around bangin’ hooks.  It’s party music through and through, Young Money-styled music that doesn’t pretend to be anything deeper than it is.  The real key factor here is Mike WiLL Made-It, whose production keeps the party going long into the night. That the duo named themselves after Mike Will’s new production company, EarDrummers, is telling; these guys are in the pocket and as long as Mike Will’s behind singles like “No Type” and the Nicki Minaj-guested “Throw Sum Mo”, they’ll keep doing well.  My particular favourite is the album-closing “Safe Sex Pay Checks”, which encourages getting wasted, getting paid, and getting laid – but safely, which is nice to see.