Migos Essentials

Within months of Migos releasing 2013’s “Versace”, it felt like the group’s style was everywhere. The triplet rhythms, the staccato flow, they way capped their lines with ad-libs that could give you whiplash: It was a sound that felt like a hotline into rap’s id. Migos (childhood friends Offset and Quavo, and the latter’s nephew Takeoff) became figureheads not just for the Atlanta trap scene, but also for trap nationwide. Mixtapes like No Label II, which spawned early favourites “Fight Night” and “Handsome and Wealthy”, helped build the momentum that would lead to their first album, 2015’s Yung Rich Nation, and its singles “One Time” and “Pipe It Up”. But it was with 2017’s Culture, and the Lil Uzi Vert-featuring “Bad and Boujee”, that the group became truly ubiquitous. That album’s numerical successors continued to yield hits in the form of “Walk It Talk It” (with Drake), “MotorSport” (with Nicki Minaj and Cardi B) and “Straightenin”, but by 2022, rumours of the group’s demise began swirling. When Takeoff died that November, it was all but official that Migos had ended their reign.