Takeoff

Rapper Takeoff - born Kirshnik Khari Ball in Lawrenceville, Georgia on June 18, 1994 – was best known as one-third of the Southern hip-hop trio Migos. He began rapping in 2008 alongside his uncle Quavo and his first cousin Offset under the name Polo Club. After changing their name to Migos, the trio issued the mixtapes Juug Season (2011) and No Label (2012) before getting their big break with the single "Versace" (2013), which peaked at Number 99 on the Billboard Hot 100. In the following years, Migos became one of the biggest hip-hop acts in the world thanks to releases like Yung Rich Nation (2015) and Culture (2017), their first album to hit the top of the charts in the US. During this time, Takeoff participated in Quavo's collaborative album with Travis Scott - Huncho Jack, Jack Huncho (2017) - on the track "Eye 2 Eye," and also appeared alongside Quavo on Scott's "Who? What!" from his 2018 critically acclaimed album, Astroworld. His solo studio debut, The Last Rocket, came out in 2018 and rose to Number 4 on the Billboard 200 chart. It was followed by the EP Culture III (Takeoff's Way) in 2021. After the non-album single “Crypto” (featuring Rich the Kid), Takeoff participated in a joint LP with Quavo titled Only Built for Infinity Links in 2022. Preceded by the singles "Hotel Lobby (Unc & Phew)," "Us vs. Them," "Big Stunna," and "Nothing Change," Only Built for Infinity Links went to Number 7 on the Billboard 200 and Number 3 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. On November 1, 2022, Takeoff was shot outside a bowling alley in Houston, Texas and died instantly at the age of 28.