On the verge: In the 'Zone' with rap duo Rae Sremmurd

Paste BN's spotlight on breakthrough artists this week is on Rae Sremmurd.

ZONING OUT: It's safe to say that Rae Sremmurd — brothers Swae Lee (21) and Slim Jimmy (22) — are in the zone right now. The Mississippi-bred duo are riding high on the strength of their smash hit single No Flex Zone, which has soared to 36 million views on YouTube in just three months. (Nicki Minaj and Pusha T were featured on the official remix.) "It's just something new and fresh we created for everybody to vibe to," Swae says from the group's home base in Atlanta. The track, produced by hitmaker Mike Will Made It, also cracked the Billboard Hot Rap charts, climbing to the No. 9 spot. The group's appeal — slick rhymes and youthful swagger wrapped around catchy beats — is readily apparent, but what exactly is the "no flex zone"? Jimmy explains using an example: "No Flex Zone is when somebody walks in and accuses you of stealing their cellphone and you didn't, and you know in your pocket you have enough money to buy their cellphone, and you have your own."

MARCHING TO THEIR OWN BEAT: Swae Lee and Slim Jimmy may have just broken nationally, but they've been recording since their teens. Originally calling themselves the Outta St8 Boyz, the pair released their early music independently, which eventually won the attention of Atlanta producer P-Nasty of the Ear Drummers, whose track record includes work with Young Jeezy, Future and Miley Cyrus. "We were just visiting him on one of the trips we took," Swae says. "He said, 'Y'all can quit your jobs right now and just make music with us.'" They did just that, signing with Mike Will Made It's Ear Drummers label, and paid tribute to the producer by taking a new name: Rae Sremmurd, or Ear Drummers backwards.

STAYING TRUE: The brothers hail from Tupelo, Miss., a town of about 34,000 people most notable for being the birthplace of Elvis Presley (and DJ/producer Diplo, as they are quick to note). But the pair say they aim for a universal sound that transcends regional styles. "We just talk about our lifestyle," Swae Lee says. "We've been partying for a long time and having girls for a long time, all the type of stuff that we've talked about we've been doing for a long time." Jimmy adds: "We're not going to say anything that we're not doing. But we don't put a limit on (what we do)."

GRITS & HITS: With No Flex Zone still burning up the charts, Rae Sremmurd wasted no time dropping their follow-up single, No Type, which became their first Top 10 single on the Billboard Streaming charts in early November, while the accompanying video has racked up more than 26 million views on YouTube since September. Despite their quick success, they sound confident they'll avoid being another flavor-of-the-month act by consistently coming back with bigger, better songs. Jimmy colorfully explains their strategy: "We gotta just keep hitting them in the face with the hot grits like the girl did in (Tyler Perry's) Medea Family Reunion."

THE GOOD LIFE: As you might expect, both rappers are enjoying the benefits of having a couple of hit songs on the charts. For Slim Jimmy, the best part has been "the experience of getting to see different places and see different cultures, and getting to see the happiness you can bring to a lot of people." Their easygoing confidence and humor are part of their personal philosophy of "Sremm Life," which Jimmy describes as "safe sex and paychecks." Swae Lee elaborates, slightly: "Smoke good, eat good, do good things."