Rae Sremmurd graces the cover of the newest issue of FADER Magazine and opened up about ghostwriting rumors and truths.
The group comprised of real life siblings Swae Lee and Slim Jxmmi get another good look this summer as the two of them display some brotherly love on the cover of FADER.
In the story that opens during their most recent appearance on The Tonight Show, the duo opens up about writing for other artists and rumors that they don’t write their own rhymes.
The biggest nugget comes when Swae Lee tells writer Naomi Zeichner about how he came up with the hook for Beyoncé’s “Formation” and how she “freaked” it.
Per FADER:
In the wake of that success, the guys moved to Los Angeles, toured America with Nicki Minaj, and played festivals around the world. They’ve gone on to make hits for others, too — Swae Lee wrote the hook of Beyoncé’s career-shifting 2016 single “Formation.”
By all accounts, Swae Lee’s contribution to “Formation” came together as most Rae Sremmurd songs have. The boys get a beat, and they record multiple freestyles over it. Later, often in collaboration with producers from the Eardrummers team, they’ll pick their freestyles apart and put the best of them back together, over high-definition beats.
“When I made that Beyoncé hook I was thinking nothing about it…I make a lot of songs, so I’m just thinking that this is another song. A couple months later, Mike tells me that Beyoncé wants it. I couldn’t imagine!”
Swae never worked on “Formation” with Beyoncé directly, but she invited him to hear the song when it had been finished.
“I come in the studio and she’s just like, a goddess or something. Just sitting there. This good aura. They played it for me and I’m like, It’s a new Beyoncé. She put her own twist on it. She has so much sauce on that song, it blew me away…She freaked it.”
Photo:Alexandra Gavillet/FADER
