Rae Sremmurd lights up Louisville Palace

By Olivia Krauth–

You know those songs you hear everywhere from the radio to your downstairs neighbor’s parties? The hip-hop ones where you seem to know every word, but have little to no idea who the artist is? Chances are, you’re listening to a Rae Sremmurd song.

The hip-hop duo, composed of brothers Khalif “Swae Lee” Brown and Aaquil “Slim Jxmmi” Brown, graced The Louisville Palace Thursday night for a U of L concert sponsored by SAB. The two got the crowd dancing to their songs, most notably “Come Get Her,” “Throw Some Mo” and “No Type.”

Beforehand, local rappers including Jack Harlow opened, showing off Louisville’s rap scene that I honestly didn’t know existed. While the openers were super talented, they couldn’t quite get the Palace crowd pumped for the headliner. But in a half-full auditorium filled with tired students, I really can’t blame them too much for the crowd’s behavior.

The native rappers also brought an unforeseen issue: high schoolers. Both openers are fresh out of area high schools, and their fans showed it. While it brought energy to the opening acts – it’s always fun when the crowd knows the lyrics – it also brought an unexpected amount of parents to the venue, which made me feel slightly uncomfortable dancing to Rae Sremmurd’s pretty risque lyrics.

But the headliner, in a word, was lit – their words, not mine. Two songs into the set, Swae Lee asked the already hyped crowd, “Is Louisville always this f****** lit,” getting screams in return. The fact Slim Jxmmi walked on stage with a handle of Hennessy, drank if for half of the act, then threw it on the audience solidified the energy of night. Rae Sremmurd definitely made up for a slightly rough start to the concert.