Rae Sremmurd - 42

Music 4 years ago

Rae Sremmurd - 42

That 3 in the middle of the title of Rae Sremmurd's latest doesn't just mark the third album in the duo's catalog -- it's also the number of discs in their 27-track opus, making even their Atlanta hip-hop brethren in Migos seem discerning by comparison.

But for its 101-minute runtime, SR3MM feels more streamlined and less sprawling than most mainstream rap records half its size -- even with the collection split into nine-track sets for the duo together, then solo sets for each, the album winds gently from hazy trap bangers ("Close") to nocturnal synth-rock drifters ("Touchscreen Navigation") and cool-kid verbal throwdowns (the Zoe Kravitz-featuring (!!) "Anti-Social Smokers Club") without ever turning at a sharp enough angle to disrupt your chilling in the back seat.

In lesser hands the album could feel claustrophobic, but nobody knows how to let the top down for some ventilation like Swae Lee and Slim Jxmmi.