One-third of the rap group Migos, Quavo has shared his second musical tribute, honoring rapper Takeoff. Dropping a music video for the track, “Greatness,” on Wednesday night (Feb. 22), Quavo continues to mourn his late nephew and fellow Migos mate.
Videos by American Songwriter
My chain, my watch, my wrist / My motherfuckin’ house, my rise and grind / I’d give away all this shit just to see my dawg just one more time, Quavo raps on “Greatness.” The video opens with him on a couch watching old videos of the late rapper.
Tryna move forward but I don’t got all the answers / But I know I can’t look backwards, that’s dangerous, he laments against a frenzied beat and expressive horns.
In the verse, Quavo also hints at the fate of Migos. Considering the loss of Takeoff and the reported tensions with member Offset, he raps So don’t ask about the group, he gone, we gone.
Check out “Greatness” below.
“Greatness” follows the previously released “Without You,” which dropped with the new year. Quavo performed the emotional ballad for his year’s Grammy Awards’ In Memoriam segment.
Last year, Takeoff, born Kirshnik Khari Ball, was fatally shot outside of a Houston, Texas, bowling alley in the early morning hours of Nov. 1. An altercation reportedly broke out and someone opened fire while he and Quavo were present. Takeoff, 28, was pronounced dead at the scene. Quavo was unharmed.
Takeoff began rapping with Quavo, and his cousin, Offset, at a young age, and in 2011, the Georgia-formed trio released their debut mixtape as Migos. Just before his death, Takeoff and Quavo had released one record together, Only Built for Infinity Links, as the duo Unc & Phew.
Following his passing, tributes to Takeoff poured in with Quavo penning a heartbreaking post after his memorial service in Atlanta, Georgia.
“It’s so hard to tell you Ima miss you because you always with me and we did everything together,” the artist wrote on Instagram. “Since we were kids you been by my side, lookin up at me, them eyes waiting on me to make the next move.. then you followed up right behind me.
“This whole time I’ve been trying to figure out what you really are to me because nephew wasn’t it,” he continued. “We hated that word “nephew” or when they said “Unc and Phew” cuz we always knew we were way closer than that and it made me feel old too. But I knew you weren’t by brother cuz you are my sister’s son … Now I finally get it … You are OUR angel.”
(Photo by Erika Goldring/Getty Images)
