On June 18, 1994, Kirshnik Khari Ball, was born in Lawrenceville, Georgia, where he was raised by his mother alongside his uncle, Quavious Keyate Marshall, and cousin, Kiari Kendrell Cephus. In 2008, the family trio would begin rapping, performing under the stage name Polo Club, before eventually settling on Migos — a reference to the term used for trap houses where drugs were made and sold in Gwinnett Country where they grew up.
The group members, now going by the stage names Takeoff, Quavo, and Offset, released their first full-length project, Juug Season, on August 25, 2011. A second mixtape, No Label, followed on June 1, 2012. One year later, the group’s debut single, “Versace,” went viral and landed at number 99 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart after being remixed by Drake. The rest, as they say was history.
For the next eight years, Migos would dominate airwaves, music stages, and nomination lists, releasing four studio albums as a trio before Quavo and Takeoff split off as a duo and began working on music separately from Offset. The pair’s debut album, Only Built for Infinity Links, was released on October 7, 2022, just weeks before Takeoff was shot and killed in Houston during an altercation. Here we take a look back at the career of the 28-year-old rapper before his untimely death.
01
2013 BET Hip Hop Awards 2013
Quavo and Takeoff attended the 2013 BET Hip Hop Awards in Atlanta on September 28, two months after releasing The Migos’ hit single “Versace.”
02
2014 BET Experience At L.A. LIVE
The Migos performed at the 2014 BET Experience on June 27, 2014, the same year they released the popular track, “Fight Night.”
03
YRN
Migos’ debut album, YRN (Yung Rich Nation), dropped on July 31, 2015 via Quality Control Music and YRN Tha Label.
04
Culture
Migos’ second studio album, Culture, debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 on January 27, 2017. In July of that year, the album went certified platinum and it was also nominated for Best Rap Album at the 2018 Grammy Awards. The lead singles were “Bad and Boujee,” “T-Shirt,” and “Slippery.”
05
2017 Coachella
Migos performed on day two of the Indio, California-based Coachella Festival.
06
2017 BET Hip Hop Awards
Migos attended the 2017 BET Hip Hop Awards in Miami Beach where they were nominated for four awards.
07
2017 Met Gala
Takeoff attended the 2017 Met Gala where the theme was Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garcons: Art Of The In-Between.
08
2017 Made in America
Migos performed on day one of the Philadelphia festival in 2017.
09
Culture II
Migos released their third studio album, Culture II, on January 26, 2018. The double album became the rap group’s second US number-one album and featured the popular singles: “MotorSport,” “Stir Fry,” “Walk It Talk It” and “Narcos.”
10
2018 Coachella
Migos performed on the Sahara Stage on day three of the Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival.
11
60th Annual GRAMMY Awards
Takeoff, Offset, and Quavo attended the 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards in 2018 where they were nominated for Best Rap Album for Culture and Best Rap Performance for “Bad and Boujee.”
12
Last Rocket
Takeoff released his debut solo studio project on November 2, 2018. The album debuted at number four on the US Billboard 200 charts.
13
2019 BET Awards
Migos performed “Pure Water” at the 2019 BET Awards along with producer DJ Mustard where they became the first group or duo to win Best Group three years in a row.
14
Culture III
On June 11, 2021, Migos released their fourth studio album, Culture III , with the lead singles “Need It,” “Straightenin,” and “Avalanche.” The project debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200.
15
2021 ESPN College GameDay
The Migos performed at this preshow on August 28, 2021 in Atlanta.
17
Only Built for Infinity Links
On October 7, Takeoff and Quavo released their first duo project, Only Built for Infinity Links, just 25 days before his death.
