‘Second album syndrome’ is a challenge for any successful musician, but it's particularly difficult for one whose initial message was rooted in gritty tales about busting out of poverty. Atlanta-based trap duo Rae Sremmurd may have found a temporary fix with their new release, the sequel to 2015’s ‘SremmLife’: rein in the hard-bitten lyrics in favour of hedonistic sloganeering while revisiting the musical primitivism inherent in trap.
The results, though, are streaky. Set The Roof and Start a Party feel like floor fillers but lack the quixotic majesty of No Type, the song that brought them to mainstream U.S. attention (429m YouTube views and counting). These are songs engineered for booming clubs and sticky frat parties alike, but which might get pushed aside when spun next to similar offerings from Fetty Wap, Tyga and - inevitably - Drake.
The standout here is Look Alive. Recently paired with a brilliant video, directed by Max, it captures both the spacey inebriation of nightclub antics and the vibrant, skinny energy of Rae Sremmurd themselves. It’s spooky, ethereal and instantly re-watchable.
Elsewhere, there are songs that are adequate but not particularly relatable. Black Beatles is pretty good, as is By Chance, but there is a lack of the ultra-violent, occasionally pornographic lyrics that tend to define the most effective trap music.
That’s because ‘SremmLife 2’ is aimed directly at the edge of mainstream. The agitated percussion, 808 drum loops and chilly synth melodies retain the genre’s DIY aesthetic, but the profanity is limited so that radio edits will not end up like a redacted Hillary Clinton email.
It will hit home with fans of the first album, but probably will not broaden their appeal too much. It's repetitive and the lack of notable samples (again, very much a generic consideration) means that the emotional shortcut enjoyed by many hip hop artists is not exploited.
This record’s integrity is rooted in the seeming amateurism of the production, and it revels in it. As with much of Rae Sremmurd’s first album, backing tracks tend to sound like those you might have found on a CD sold to you by a teenager on Croydon High Street in 2008. That is no bad thing, but it doesn't really break new ground.
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