by John Tindale

In a world where Kanye West and Chris Brown grab the spotlight, it is Atlantan brothers Khalif ‘Swae Lee’ Brown and Aaquil ‘Slim Jxmmy’ Brown who are beginning to attract a few headlines of their own. Debut album SremmLife, released at the start of last year, proved to be the most divisive rap album of 2015 with people mocking its playful party vibe and praising its hedonistic attitude in equal measure. In SremmLife 2 the duo set out their stalls as one of the more exciting rap acts to emerge in recent memory.

One of the main criticisms of SremmLife was the lack of substance held in the lyrics, but the thing that was mainly ignored was just how exciting the production was. It’s more of the same here; ‘Set The Roof’ is an ‘80s electro inspired beat combined with a modern sounding snare to bring the track to life. While the preceding ‘Shake It Fast’ is a trap beat which avoids feeling dated in a saturated market. Fundamentally it is the energy brought to the table by the brothers which carries the album. Whether it be the initial Kanye-styled yelps in opener ‘Start The Party’ or the continuation of free-flowing rap during the previously mentioned ‘Set The Roof’ ft. Lil Jon to add that hint of aggression.

The hooks in each track are memorable; even the Drake tinged sleeper tracks ‘By Chance’ (still featuring a good beat of off-kilt keys) are sung with intriguing melodies. ‘Take It Or Leave It’ is perhaps the best thing the Browns have ever done with their slow-paced vocal with Swae Lee delivering a retro-croon that is kept in check through some superb production. The criticism of poor lyricism reappears during album closer ‘Do Yoga’; the lyrics “All my girls do yoga” and “they get high at night” is repeated a frustrating amount of times. It’s this lyrical naivety that needs to be improved upon the duo are to reach the heights of their contemporaries.

SremmLife 2 is an album of superb ideas that on the large, hit their intended target. By combining a Kanye-esque level of production focus and their fellow Georgians Outkast level of fun there is a real potential for ‘SremmLife 3’ to be something special. For now, though, it’s all about potential Rae Sremmurd have a second good album in SremmLife 2 and while their debut may have divided, there can’t be too much argument about the extra maturity shown in the follow-up. (7/10)

Listen to SremmLife 2 here via Spotify, and tell us what you think below!