ILoveMakonnen, Drake’s newest OVO signee, might’ve picked up a Grammy nomination for his viral hit “Tuesday,” but, if you ask me, Rae Sremmurd had arguably the best breakout year in hip-hop. The Mississippi duo, made up of brothers Khalif “Swae Lee” Brown and Aaquil “Slim Jimmy” Brown, created two of my favorite songs of 2014—the summer banger “No Flex Zone,” which Nicki Minaj and Pusha T remixed, and the sleek humble brag “No Type.” And they plan to carry that momentum into next year by releasing their debut album, SremmLife, the first week of January. To build even more buzz for the album, today they’ve dropped off a new song, “Throw Sum Mo,” which features Minaj and fellow rising rap star Young Thug.
Rae Sremmurd are at their strongest when they keep things light—one reason recent single “Illest Walking” didn’t work—and over a sluggish trap beat from their go-to producer Mike Will Made It, the duo’s high-pitched flow comes together effortlessly. In terms of strip club anthems, it’s far from the greatest—Nicki is nowhere near her “I Luv Dem Strippers” form—but with yet another co-sign from the queen of rap and Young Thug’s typically slurred-style wordplay closing out the track, the new single sets the stage for Rae Sremmurd to turn even more heads in 2015.
