rae-sremmurd-fader-fort-1
photo by Ryan Muir / The FADER

Rae Sremmurd played a surprise set at FADER Fort SXSW (pics)

Rae Sremmurd returned to Austin for SXSW to do their Eardrummers Takeover at ACL Live on Friday night (3/16), and right before that, they played a surprise set at FADER Fort. Pictures of the FADER Fort set are in the gallery above and a video from the Eardrummers Takeover is below. Here’s an excerpt of Austin360’s review of the Eardrummers show:

A year and a half on, “Black Beatles” is still their crowning achievement, restructuring rock swagger into trap bravado. It easily got the best response from the crowd, which jumped and moshed like rap and rock were never separate to begin with. They even encouraged mosh pits at one point, further dissolving the divide. “T’d Up” proved that “Beatles’” success wasn’t a fluke, that they’ve got bangers for ages. It may not have been quite the revelation “Beatles” was, yet there’s hardly anything else on the radio as catchy.

Their next record, which is scheduled to release next month, will be a triple album, two-thirds of which will effectively be solo albums, ala Outkast’s “Speakerboxxx/The Love Below.” Slim Jxmmi and Swae Lee did mini solo sets, with the former coming out swinging with the bumping “Brxnks Truck” and the latter displaying a slower, more future R&B sound with “Hurt to Look.” Swae Lee had the slight advantage, if only because “Unforgettable” was one of last year’s biggest hits. (He also had the upper hand on style, with a full orange camo ensemble.) They work so well as a duo because of their differences, with Slim Jxmmi working within the hard trap archetype, albeit a lot flashier, and Swae Lee the more pop-minded of the two.

As the above review points out, Rae Sremmurd’s new triple album is coming soon. They’re also touring with Childish Gambino (including MSG) later this year.