For Rae Sremmurd, the party literally never stops. It’s day two of the Governor’s Ball music festival in New York City and the rap duo is scheduled to perform later that afternoon. A day earlier, Reebok announced a deal with the “Black Beatles” rappers, signing them as the new faces of its Classic Leather campaign. To kick off the new deal, Rae Sremmurd is traveling through New York City in a Reebok Classic Leather–themed truck, making stops to give out free sneakers in block party-style events before hitting the stage at Gov Ball—and talking to Complex about it in between.
“Reebok saw that we had so much motherfucking style and swag, they wanted to work with us,” Slim Jxmmi,21, told Complex, explaining the origins of their deal with the brand.
Not just any artist can land a sneaker endorsement — Rae Sremmurd’s venture with Reebok comes as a big deal. They join the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Teyana Taylor, and Future, some of the brand’s other celebrity partners. Note that all these names are musicians—not athletes. “We’re the new ball players, man! We’re the new ball players,” exclaimed Swae Lee,24, when asked about artists helping sell sneakers. “We sell out shows, we pack arenas. We got the influence!”
While Rae Sremmurd hasn't gotten their own signature sneakers just yet, the brother duo says that’s on the way—and they proclaim their upcoming designs to be the greatest rapper sneakers ever. “We’re working on a bunch of stuff,” said Swae Lee. “Trust me when it drops, man, it’s going to be crazy. We’re going to have all of the best color combinations on our sneakers.”
The part about selling out shows and packing venues—they weren’t lying about that. There’s nearly an hour left before Rae Sremmurd is set to hit the stage at Governor’s Ball, but the crowd is steadily chanting, “We want Rae! We want Rae! We want Rae!”
When the pair finally emerged, the crowd went insane—as did Slim Jxmmi. He suffered a serious leg injury at Governor’s Ball two years ago, but that didn’t stop him from jumping nearly 20 feet from the top of a stage railing to the front row of the VIP section today (his perfect landing could be attributed to a fresh pair of Reebok Classic Leathers). Whether scaling the stage set or dousing the fans with water, Rae Sremmurd fed off the energy of their fans, as usual. “One time I jumped in the crowd while performing and they got me,” Swae Lee told Complex of one particular crazy live moment. “There was just so many girls and they were all trying to grab me, from all over, every direction. When I came out the crowd, I had no shoes on!”
This time, nobody had to snatch Rae Sremmurd’s shoes. They took their Reeboks off themselves and launched them into the crowd, then put on new pairs. “I need like three or four pairs of Reebok just to hit the stage,” Slim Jxmmi said.
Just a few minutes after the set ends, Rae Sremmurd is already on their way to Nassau Coliseum in Long Island, where they're opening for The Weeknd on tour. Will they be collaborating with the Toronto singer on any upcoming projects? The duo would only confirm that they’ll be working with their mentor, producer Mike Will Made-It—as for other collaborators, they refused to say. When asked about their upcoming solo projects, Swae Lee and Slim Jxmmi changed the subject, blurting out the name of their upcoming album as a duo in unison: “Sremmlife 3 on the way!”
