Seizing the stage at 1 a.m. as darkness obscured the postcard views of Pemberton Festival, the evening's last act ended the fest's first night with vigour. A swarm of people nodded and bounced to the addictive, hooky hit list of duo Swae Lee and Slim Jxmmi. The brothers from the same mother bounded joyfully across the stage, crowd and rappers feeding off each other's energy. Built for zoning out, the repetitive chants of Rae Sremmurd's addictive hits — "No Flex Zone," "Come Get Her" and "No Type" — from the Mississippi act's 2015 debut, SremmLife, bleed into each nicely.
Over the course of an hour-long set, the sameness of the playlist began to set in. New joints like "By Chance" and "Look Alive" felt more like a continuation of the groove rather than a marked progression. And yet, when it's this late and you're this young, lyrics and depth feel secondary. The energy of Rae Sremmurd won the night.
Over the course of an hour-long set, the sameness of the playlist began to set in. New joints like "By Chance" and "Look Alive" felt more like a continuation of the groove rather than a marked progression. And yet, when it's this late and you're this young, lyrics and depth feel secondary. The energy of Rae Sremmurd won the night.
