Rae Sremmurd fans have a lot to be excited about in the coming months. The hip-hop duo behind the #MannequinChallenge banger “Black Beatles” have been teasing their next project, the triple-disc SremmLife 3 — dropping three new tracks on March 1 — and recently announced that they’ll be joining Childish Gambino on tour in September.
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In addition to their musical endeavors, the Rae Sremmurd guys (Swae Lee and Slim Jxmmi) are two of the many famous faces of Reebok and spent Monday night in New York City celebrating the launch of the athletic brand’s new Fast Flexweave running shoe. Sporting their own pairs, Jxmmi gave the shoes a positive review before delivering a high-energy performance: “It’s crazy, man, you can’t feel your toes when you put these on!”
Billboard caught up with Jxmmi and Swae at the event, getting a little more scoop on what fans can expect from SremmLife 3 and when (hint: it’s coming sooner than you think), as well as their excitement for the Gambino tour.
How has your partnership with Reebok impacted your career?
Jxmmi: Reebok kind of influenced me to start working on my body. At one point in time, I looked like I could run two miles off the bat [Laughs], but we started recording the album and I lost that. But I’m gonna keep on working out and training, because I never felt so good. I changed my eating habits, I changed the way I live, I wake up and I drink more water — I’m more healthy than I ever was in my life.
Swae: Reebok has us on like a model status, because they have us on those big ass billboards now. You might see some Sremm Life 3 Reeboks.
Speaking of SremmLife 3, what can you tell fans about this next era of Rae Sremmurd?
Swae: It’s the best music we’ve ever made. Of course we’ve still got SremmLife 1 and 2 flavor, but we’re giving y’all shit y’all never heard from Rae Sremmurd before. It’s just gonna be a surprise — every song you hear you’re gonna be like, “Damn, what the f—?” And all the production is crazy, you got Mike Will Made It and EarDrummers ringing off the whole album. A couple more people too, crazy features. It’s gonna be a big deal, it’s history. The world never heard this, it’s gonna be a big statement — triple disc from a group.
What made you guys want to do a triple disc for SremmLife 3?
Jxmmi: We wanted to give y’all something different because it’s one side saying, “Man, this person should go solo,” so why don’t we just end the argument and give it to you, and then give you Rae Sremmurd so you can see why we are Rae Sremmurd and who we are as individuals.
Swae: People don’t even know I can sing, or they’re just finding out, so I’m gonna take advantage of that. Jimmi’s gonna give them that rapping, and I might rap a little too.
Are there any collaborations you want to hint?
Jxmmi: I can’t spoil no surprises, but this is the hitman right here — hitman Swae Lee. If you need a hook, you’re gonna have to come with a lot of money.
How did the tour with Childish Gambino come about and what are you guys looking forward to with that?
Jxmmi: Childish Gambino is a cool guy, we linked overseas in a studio. I DJ’d one of his house parties one time. He’s just a cool guy and we got the same type of vibe, so you can expect good music to come out of this. It’s natural. We don’t gotta act, we can just be ourselves. He’s himself everywhere he goes, and we’re gonna be ourselves everywhere we go — so It’s just gonna be like two different shows, we from two different places. He’s just a great person, he’s an icon so it’s just great to go on tour with him.
Swae: I got a laptop with about 1,000 bangers, I know Childish Gambino got about 2,000 or 3,000, who knows? We’re gonna come together and make a whole project like, “Redbone” and “Black Beatles.”
You guys made the world freeze with “Black Beatles.” What do you want the world to do with SremmLife 3?
Swae: We want the world to just lose their minds and go crazy with the whole SremmLife wave. All the nonbelievers, we’re just gonna shut them up one time. We done went No. 1, we done dropped club bangers and made the world freeze and there’s still people talking, so we just wanna shut haters up real quick. Sremm Life 3, coming soon in April.