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SremmLife

2015 studio album by Rae Sremmurd

Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

SremmLife is the debut studio album by American hip hop duo Rae Sremmurd. It was released on January 6, 2015, by Ear Drummer Records and Interscope Records. The album was supported by five singles: "No Flex Zone", "No Type", "Throw Sum Mo" featuring Nicki Minaj and Young Thug, "This Could Be Us" and "Come Get Her".

01Background

Rae Sremmurd is a Mississippi-bred hip hop duo composed of Swae Lee and Slim Jxmmi. In 2014, the duo signed a recording contract with American music producer Mike Will Made It's newly found label, the Interscope Records imprint, Ear Drummer Records.

02Singles

The duo's debut single from the album, called "No Flex Zone" was released via digital download on May 18, 2014. The song was produced by Mike Will Made It, and co-produced by A+. The song gained media attention after the release of the remix, which features guest vocals from rappers Nicki Minaj and Pusha T. The song peaked at number 36 on the US Billboard Hot 100.

The album's second single, called "No Type" was released on September 15, 2014. Producer Mike WiLL Made-It also serves the production on this track, along with Swae Lee. The song peaked at number 16 on the US Billboard Hot 100. It was the number 70 song of the 2015 year-end chart.

The album's third single, called "Throw Sum Mo" was released on December 9, 2014. The song features guest vocals from these fellow American hip hop recording artists Nicki Minaj and Young Thug, with the production that was handled by Soundz and Mike WiLL Made-It. The song peaked at number 30 on the US Billboard Hot 100.

The album's fourth single, "This Could Be Us" was sent to US urban adult contemporary radio on April 21, 2015. The song's production was handled by Mike WiLL Made-It. The song peaked at number 49 on the US Billboard Hot 100.

The album's fifth single, "Come Get Her" was sent to US rhythmic radio on September 29, 2015. The song was produced by Mike WiLL Made-It, and co-produced by A+. The song peaked at number 56 on the US Billboard Hot 100.

03Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.2/10
Metacritic78/100
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic
Complex
Cuepoint (Expert Witness)A−
Exclaim!7/10
HipHopDX3.5/5
Now4/5
Paste8.1/10
Pitchfork7.8/10
Rolling Stone
Spin6/10

SremmLife received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 78, which indicates "generally favorable reviews", based on 15 reviews. Writing for Exclaim!, Eric Zaworski concluded that "SremmLife sounds like how cheap vodka works, it burns a little, yeah, but it gets you there," explaining that the record "only further reinforces the vice grip hip-hop from south of the Mason-Dixon has on the mainstream." Justin Charity of Complex said "the chants and ecstatic poetry of SremmLife are fully charged from start to finish."

Year-end lists

Publication Accolade Year Rank
Complex The 50 Best Albums of 2015 2015 3
Entertainment Weekly The 40 Best Albums of 2015 2015 23
LA Times 10 Great Pop Albums in 2015 2015 n/a
Pitchfork The 50 Best Albums of 2015 2015 29
Rolling Stone The 50 Best Albums of 2015 2015 44
Stereogum The 50 Best Albums of 2015 2015 36

All time lists

Publication Accolade Year Rank
Rolling Stone The 200 Greatest Hip-Hop Albums of All Time 2022 152

04Commercial performance

SremmLife debuted at number 5 on the US Billboard 200, with 49,000 equivalent album units; it sold 34,000 copies in its first week, with the remainder of its unit count reflecting streaming activity and track sales. In its second week, the album declined to number 17 with 23,000 units, including an additional 11,000 copies sold. It has remained on the album chart for 19 weeks thus far. As of June 2016, SremmLife has sold 198,000 copies domestically. With streaming and physical sales, the album has since gone Platinum and all of its singles have gone 2× Platinum or higher, with the promotional single "Up Like Trump" being certified Gold.

05Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Lit Like Bic" BackPack4:34
2."Unlock the Swag" (featuring Jace) 5:22
3."No Flex Zone"
  • A. Brown
  • K. Brown
  • M. Williams
  • Hogan
  • Mike Will Made It
  • A+ [a]
3:51
4."My X" Young Chop3:34
5."This Could Be Us" 3:26
6."Come Get Her"
  • A. Brown
  • K. Brown
  • M. Williams
  • Hogan
  • Mike Will Made It
  • A+ [a]
3:32
7."Up Like Trump" Sonny Digital3:13
8."Throw Sum Mo" (featuring Nicki Minaj and Young Thug) 4:20
9."YNO" (featuring Big Sean)
  • Mike Will Made It
  • A+ [a]
5:24
10."No Type"
  • A. Brown
  • K. Brown
  • M. Williams
3:20
11."Safe Sex Pay Checks" Honorable C.N.O.T.E.4:56
Total length:45:32

Notes

  • ^a signifies a co-producer.
  • "This Could Be Us" features additional vocals by Jace of Two-9.

Sample credits

  • "This Could Be Us" contains a sample from "Burnin' Love" performed by Black Grass.

06Personnel

Credits adapted from the album booklet and Allmusic.

Performance
  • Rae Sremmurd , primary artists
  • Sean "Big Sean" Anderson , featured artist ("YNO")
  • Jason "Jace" Harris , featured artist ("Unlock the Swag"), additional vocals ("This Could Be Us")
  • Onika "Nicki Minaj" Maraj , featured artist ("Throw Sum Mo")
  • Jeffery "Young Thug" Williams , featured artist ("Throw Sum Mo")
Producers
  • Michael "Mike Will Made-It" Williams , executive producer, producer (tracks 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9 ,10)
  • Pierre "P-Nazty" Slaughter , executive producer
  • Rae Sremmurd , executive producers
  • Jeremy "BackPack" Miller , producer ("Lit Like Bic")
  • Carlton "Honorable C.N.O.T.E." Mays , producer ("Safe Sex Pay Checks")
  • Sonny "Sonny Digital" Uwaeauoke , producer ("Up Like Trump")
  • Kenneth "Soundz" Coby , producer ("Throw Sum Mo")
  • Tyree "Young Chop" Pitman , producer ("My X")
  • Asheton "A+" Hogan , co-producer (tracks 2, 3, 6, 9)
  • Marquel "Marz" Middlebrooks , co-producer ("This Could Be Us")
  • Khalif "Swae Lee" Brown , co-producer ("No Type")
Technical
  • Todd Bergman , recording assistant ("Throw Sum Mo")
  • Maddox Chhim , mixing assistant (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11)
  • Aubry "Big Juice" Delaine , engineer ("Throw Sum Mo")
  • Stephen Hybicki , engineer (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11), mixing (tracks 3, 9, 10)
  • Maximilian Jaeger , engineer ("YNO")
  • Jaycen Joshua , mixing (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11)
  • Dave Kutch , mastering (whole album)
  • Ryan Kaul , mixing assistant (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11)
  • Randy Lanphear , engineer ("Unlock the Swag", "This Could Be Us")
  • Marquel "Marz" Middlebrooks , engineer ("Up Like Trump", "No Type")
  • Cody Seal , engineer ("Come Get Her")
  • Pierre "P-Nazty" Slaughter , engineer (tracks 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
  • Gregg Rominiecki , engineer ("YNO")
  • Hakeem Wallace , engineer ("Lit Like Bic")
  • Michael "Mike Will Made-It" Williams , mixing (whole album)
Miscellaneous
  • Ray Alba , publicity
  • Chelsea Blythe , A&R coordinator
  • Archie Davis , marketing
  • Khalfani "Fani" Dennis , stylist
  • DJ Mormile , management
  • Todd Douglas , business affairs
  • Jeremey "Migo The Plug" Ellis , management
  • Dan Friedman , management
  • Auro Harewood , digital
  • Max "Directed By Max" Hliva , videography
  • Stephanie Hsu , creative
  • Tracy Kies , business affairs
  • Justine Massa , creative
  • Chris Mortimer , digital
  • Aubrey "Aubz" Potter , style, merchandise
  • Gunner Safron , marketing
  • Pierre "P-Nazty" Slaughter , A&R
  • Manny Smith , A&R
  • Justin "JusDesignz" Thomas , graphic designer, cover art
  • Diwang Valdez , photography
  • Brian "Bwrightous" Wright , marketing, creative director

07Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2015) Peak
position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) 193
Canadian Albums (Billboard) 13
Danish Albums (Hitlisten) 22
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) 180
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) 40
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) 60
UK R&B Albums (Official Charts) 24
US Billboard 200 5
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) 1
US Top Rap Albums (Billboard) 1

Year-end charts

Chart (2015) Position
US Billboard 200 39
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) 22
Chart (2016) Position
US Billboard 200 106

08Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Denmark (IFPI Danmark) Platinum 20,000
New Zealand (RMNZ) Platinum 15,000
United Kingdom (BPI) Silver 60,000
United States (RIAA) 2× Platinum 2,000,000

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Watch videos about SremmLifeExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article SremmLife, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

Images, from Wikimedia Commons:

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