Rae Sremmurd talk going No. 1, Mannequin Challenge: 'We made it now'
Just as quickly as people jumped on Juju on That Beat, another viral craze is sweeping the nation.
Scrolling through your social media timelines in the past couple weeks, you've more than likely seen at least a few #MannequinChallenge videos, in which people pose in funny, oftentimes uncomfortable positions as someone films them. But every viral clip needs its theme music, and the unofficial song of the Mannequin Challenge has become Rae Sremmurd's Black Beatles, which shot to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart earlier this week.
Produced by Mike Will Made It and featuring Gucci Mane, Black Beatles is a woozy tribute to fast living and the Fab Four, taken off the Mississippi rap duo's sophomore album SremmLife 2. Aaquil "Slim Jxmmi" Brown, 22 (one half of Rae Sremmurd with brother Khalif "Swae Lee," 21) chats with Paste BN about the song's viral success and getting the blessing of Sir Paul McCartney:
Q: Congratulations on going No. 1. Did you do anything to celebrate?
A: Yes, we threw a house party, and Keke Palmer and Tinashe came and celebrated with us. Then the next day we went and partied again, and I drank a whole bottle of champagne. I think all of us did, just to see if we could.
Q: You've worked with Nicki Minaj before (on last year's Throw Sum Mo). Did she reach out to you guys about doing the Black Barbies remix?
A: Yeah, I believe she reached out to Mike and said she was happy to see two young men being successful, coming from not the best of circumstances. She really liked what we were doing and wanted to do it.
Q: When did she record it?
A: I think she had done it the night before (Black Beatles) went No. 1. I'm not too sure about the timing, but it was real close together. Nicki Minaj might be psychic.
Q: So where did the idea for Black Beatles come from?
A: We were saying we were some black rock stars and the Beatles were an iconic group, and we kind of have the same thing going on. They were young, crazy and had the young people going nuts, so we wanted to incorporate that type of energy in the song. So we said "Black Beatles."
Q: Do you have a favorite Beatles song?
A: My favorite is Day Tripper. Day Tripper is the best song ever, it's like being high and having a good time.
Q: How'd you react when you saw Paul McCartney's Mannequin Challenge video?
A: Oh, man. When I saw his, I was like, "We made it now."
Q: Has he reached out to you guys?
A: It was just the video. But it'd be so cool if on a (Black Beatles) remix, Paul McCartney sang the hook and we had a live band instrumental, and then we said our verses over the instrumental. That'd be so, so awesome. My life would be complete.
Q: Hillary Clinton also recorded a Mannequin Challenge for election day, encouraging people to get out and vote. What'd you think of hers?
A: That was tight. It just (went) places we didn't expect it to go so fast. Being able to interact with a lot of people through the Mannequin Challenge, they just got to hear the song. I don't know, I wish she would've put the video out earlier, then she would've won.
Q: How do you feel about her losing to Donald Trump?
A: There's nothing we can do about it now, man. Just keep moving and pushing and living our lives, you know?
Q: Nicki dissed him on Black Barbies.Do you see yourselves releasing any songs about him in the near future?
A: We made one song about him, Up Like Trump, but it was before his election. As of now, we'll probably never say his name in a song, just because of the way he went about his political trail and some of the things that he said. But you never know what the future holds. I'm not too messed up about the election. Me and my brother are going to keep doing what we got to do to support ourselves and our family.
Warning: Contains NSFW language.