Essential Migos Facts For Every Fan Of Their Music

In just under three years, rap trio Migos — which consists of Quavious "Quavo" Marshall, Kirsnick "Takeoff" Ball, and Kiari "Offset" Cephus — went from releasing the relatively successful 2015 album, "Yung Rich Nation," to crushing the charts with their critically acclaimed 2017 breakout album "Culture." The Gwinnett County, Georgia natives followed up with the highly anticipated "Culture II" in 2018 and racked up chart-topping hits during their meteoric ascension to fame — from "Hannah Montana" to "Versace," and the Grammy-nominated hit, "Bad and Boujee" featuring Lil Uzi Vert. 

International success meant the threesome was able to transcend the rap world and cross over to pop. They lent their vocals to Katy Perry's "Bon Appétit" and even made an appearance on electro house DJ Steve Aoki's 2017 song, "Night Call", featuring Lil Yachty.

It didn't take long for the world to become hypnotized by hip hop's mumble rap champs, and their lives have certainly done a 180 since fame seemingly dropped in their laps. Despite making waves in the industry and headlining their own Yung Rich Nation tour, they've faced a series of legal battles and deadly gunfights that put the Wild West to shame. They've also ruffled more than a few feathers with their peers, as well.

If "yeah, dat way" sounds completely foreign to you, keep reading to find out more about the untold truth of Migos.

In an interview with GQ, it was revealed that Quavo and Takeoff are uncle and nephew, respectively, while Offset is Quavo's cousin. Takeoff's mother was the matriarch who took on the responsibility of raising all three of them, Quavo told The Fader. "[Takeoff's] momma took care of everything, and us. We always stayed in the same house. We share everything," he said before stating that he views his nephew, Takeoff, as more like a brother.

Takeoff seconded that sentiment by saying, "I don't look at him as my uncle, but more as my brother. But we always have clowned on each other. He is my uncle, so I gotta clown on him. You gotta be funny."

They admitted to Vice's Noisey that, growing up, there was some competition between them all, but it was all in jest and done in a playful manner. "We've got each other's back. We love each other," Offset declared.

In 2008, Quavo, Takeoff, and Offset came together to start a rap group called Polo Club. The trio would later drop the name for "Migos," a moniker they told Hot 97 was inspired by Gwinnett County, their home base in Georgia. After spending years becoming better at their craft, Migos released "Juug Season," a mixtape that also doubled as their first full-length project. "The majority of the songs that's on the mixtape were recorded by us and engineered by us. At the house," Offset told Vice in an interview.

As up-and-coming rappers in Gwinnett, getting their music out to the world was no easy feat for Migos. So they set out to promote themselves the best way they knew -– in the local clubs. "Gwinnett gets overlooked because it's so close to the city," they explained to Fader in 2013. "But we just kept being annoying in the local clubs. Paying the DJs, getting them drinks ... And showing face, back-to-back-to-back nights. So as much as they keep hearing our song, they see us too."

Of course, their efforts paid off. In 2013, Migos released their breakout single, "Versace," a song that gave them their first entry on the Billboard Hot 100. And from that point onward, these three men from Georgia knew there was no turning back.

After spending a considerable amount of time with each other as kids, the group clicked and started calling themselves "Migos," Quavo told Rolling Stone. What came next were a few years of and getting into a lot of trouble in order to shape their image. Trouble for the trio included the task of making ends meet ... by any means necessary. "We had to ... find some motherf***ing money," Offset said in the same magazine interview.

Resorting to burglary and other crimes, they later used their illicit earnings to fund their music aspirations, shelling out dough for recording equipment, DJ mixtape-hosting fees, and of course, flashy jewelry and clothing. "You gotta flex. You gotta look good, bro. Especially coming from the outskirts and wanting to take over the whole Atlanta," Offset said.

But reality set in when it came time to record the music video for "Versace." "When we came out doing 'Versace,' we were actually fantasizing about wearing it. We didn't even have the clothes until we got to the video shoot and they brought in all the props. Then they tried to take 'em away from us after the video shoot," the group told Thrasher. Of course, things have changed for them. Street life is a distant memory (well, sort of), and Donatella Versace, the head of their most-loved fashion brand, is now a fan of theirs. Go figure.

Being in the limelight means there's no shortage of drama for the rap trio, including the time one of their fans opened fire on them in Miami. The incident went down in March 2014 while Migos and their crew were leaving a club appearance. According to TMZ, a drive-by shooting occurred. At least one member of their entourage was injured, a news source confirmed.

That year proved dangerous for the group because just four months after the barrage of bullets rang out in Miami, they were involved in yet another shooting at a Duluth, Georgia hotel, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. A man named Cory Marzette and another unidentified man reportedly shot into a crowd gathered at the hotel to celebrate the rap group's musical success, killing one. Although Offset was present at the party, he allegedly refused to cooperate with the police investigation.

The Gwinnett Daily Post suspected the incident was linked to Migos' rivalry with a Georgia-based music group and alleged street gang called 2G. But the investigation took a turn when the suspect, Marzette, took his own life in September 2015 before police could apprehend him.

After successfully climbing the charts in 2017 with their breakout album "Culture" and their smash hit "Bad and Boujee," Migos thought for sure they'd be snagging a Grammy award. "I feel like we worked the album for a whole year and rode it the whole year. That's why I feel it's our time to take that Grammy home," Quavo boasted during an interview on Beats1 (via Billboard).

But by the time the 60th Grammy ceremony rolled around, Migos found themselves up against other talented acts in the best rap album category, including Jay Z's "4:44," Kendrick Lamar's "DAMN.," Rapsody's "Laila's Wisdom," and Tyler, The Creator's "Flower Boy." And when the winner for the best rap album was announced as Kendrick Lamar, the trio felt robbed.

In an interview with NME, Quavo proclaimed, "There was nothing bigger than the f***ing 'Culture' album this whole last year!"

Reporters on the receiving end of some of Migos' most cringey interviews would agree they're not the easiest to deal with. For example, during their chat with NME, the writer noted the "T-Shirt" artists were several hours late to the interview. "It's a miracle. But like herding particularly baked cats, much wrangling has to take place in order to get them onto a sofa to talk," the writer reported.

And then, there was the time they cut an interview short mid-sentence with Dana Cortez after she asked Offset a question about his on-stage wedding proposal to fellow rapper Cardi B. And how could we forget the on-air standoff that occurred between the group and rapper Joe Budden during an interview with Everyday Struggle on the 2017 BET Awards red carpet? Takeoff became utterly ticked off when the co-host, DJ Akademics, asked him what it felt like to be left off the group's most successful single, "Bad and Boujee."

"Do it look like I'm left off 'Bad and Boujee?'" he asked defiantly. Budden, who was noticeably frustrated during the entire segment, stated, "Alright we gotta wrap this up though," before dropping his microphone and walking away from the camera's view. This escalated to a brief altercation that threatened to ruin everyone's night before security jumped in to save the day. Budden later justified his actions, writing, "They was just a little too sassy for me" in a since-deleted tweet (via Metro).

Together, the members of Migos can create magic in the studio booth, but in their down time, the group prefers to leave wizardry in the hands of the pros. While conducting an interview with GQ magazine in Las Vegas, Quavo coordinated a fun activity for the entire group and their entourage to partake in after scoring 10 tickets to see celebrity magician Criss Angel perform. Based off of the interview, it was clear that punctuality wasn't the group's priority. 

However, Quavo wasn't going to let anything get in the way of seeing the illusionist in action, instructing his group members that he wouldn't put up with any lateness on the night of the show. Angel was also lucky enough to receive a shout-out from Offset on the Migos track "MotorSport" featuring Cardi B and Nicki Minaj. "I'm boujee, so, b***h, don't get near / Criss Angel, make dope disappear (voilà)," he raps.

Migos' songs may be infused with rap beats and lyrics dedicated to the "culture" as a way to pay homage to their gritty upbringing, but being pigeonholed into one genre of music isn't their thing. The head of their record label, Pierre "Pee" Thomas, revealed in a Tidal documentary: "They're not making music for just one particular group ... Don't be surprised if you see 'em making a rock album one day or an EDM album."

The group has also shared their own dreams of branching out, with Offset telling Vice's Noisey that the group had requested pop-infused beats so they could branch out into something different. Although Takeoff admitted they weren't particular fans of this type of music, they were open to exploring EDM-infused tracks. "I want to do a song on a beat like that," he said.

Does this mean Migos will be headlining Las Vegas' Electric Daisy Carnival one day? We'll keep our glow sticks on standby just in case.

The group found themselves in the middle of a firestorm when speaking about artist ILoveMakonnen's candid 2017 Twitter confession, which read, "And since y'all love breaking news, here's some old news to break, I'm gay." When Rolling Stone asked Migos about the support ILoveMakonnen received following his announcement, Quavo said he only received backing because "the world is f***ed up." Takeoff added, "This world is not right."

After intense backlash, they were prompted to release a statement via Twitter, which read, in part, "We are all fans of Makonnen's music and we wish he didn't feel he ever had to hide himself. We feel the world is f***ed up that people feel like they have to hide and we're asked to comment on someone's sexuality. We have no problem with anyone's sexual preference. We love all people, gay, or straight and we apologize if we offended anyone."

Unfortunately, it wasn't the last time they would make insensitive comments. During a feature on rapper YFN Lucci's song, "Boss Life," Offset rapped, "60K solitaire / I cannot vibe with queers." He defended his lyrics by posting a definition of the word "queer" alongside an Instagram caption that read in part, "I didn't write the line about gay people ... I got love for all people. My passion for fashion has lead me to a lot of gay people around me who I have mad respect for ... I'm not in a place where I'm hating like that."

With lyrics such as "Neck water faucet, mocking birds mocking (woo)," some may call their songs juvenile, but perhaps they'd think differently if they understood the group's creative recording process. "We never wrote a song before. We ain't ever wrote no song. Everything we do come straight off the dome. We go into the booth and record it and it comes out a masterpiece," Offset told Vice's Noisey.

Takeoff opened up even more about their unorthodox recording sessions, saying each group member gets 20 minutes to do whatever they're going to do, and after the 20 minutes are up, they have to exit the booth.

Throughout the years, the "Stir Fry" lyricists have gotten their recording routine down pat, with Offset adding, "But it's never where somebody's got to get kicked out [the booth] because we've been doing it so long it's just (snaps three times) like that. We go in, do the verse." Easy peasy.

One of their most unlikely fans is none other than Jeff Goldblum — the actor who has starred in blockbuster hits, such as "Jurassic Park" and "Independence Day." Sure, he's a huge fan of jazz legend Miles Davis, and Goldblum even headlines his own weekly jazz show in Los Angeles, but he also has a thing for rap music. And he wasn't ashamed to admit he's down for the culture after posing for a picture with Quavo. So how exactly did these two link up? According to the actor, he was out shopping and the two "started to talk and took some pictures together."

When Vice asked the award-winning actor if he'd be collaboration one day, whatever that would entail, he answered, "Oh my gosh, I'd be thrilled to do any, any little thing with him and them. Yeah that would be a lot of fun. It could go anywhere! That's a great idea."

And now we're imagining what "Bad and Boujee" would sound like with a piano riff and horns playing in the background. Oddly enough, we'd be all for it.

In 2015, while in Georgia for a concert at Georgia State University, Migos — alongside members of their entourage — were arrested on charges of drug and firearm possession. Though Takeoff and Quavo were released on bonds set at $10,000 each, per Rolling Stone, Offset's bond request was denied due to a prior criminal record. The rapper would end up spending eight months in jail until he was released in December 2015.

Three months later, in March 2016, Offset had another run-in with the law when he was arrested for having a suspended driver's license. As reported by TMZ, shortly after his release the next day, a judge ruled that the rapper was illegally arrested because he had previously paid a $316 ticket fee for his suspended license. This was not the end of his troubles, however. According to Insider, Offset was yet again arrested in July 2018 after authorities claimed to have found three handguns in his car.

That same year Migos was slammed with a lawsuit, alleging that they had instigated a riot during one of their concerts back in 2015. Page Six reported that Sharome Ross, a concertgoer who claimed to have been attacked and assaulted at the event, also filed a lawsuit against the group.

In May 2022, fans began to speculate that Migos might be heading for a split. Seemingly confirming the rumor, Newsweek reported that both Offset and his wife Cardi B unfollowed Quavo and Takeoff on Instagram. That same month, Quavo and Takeoff deftly began promotions of "Hotel Lobby." Notably, the song which they released as a duo under the moniker Unc & Phew, per Rolling Stone, did not feature Offset.

While Quavo and Takeoff released "Only Built for Infinity Links," their first album as a duo in October 2022, Offset announced that his solo album would drop on November 11, 2022, Billboard reported. With all of these, it became evident that there was trouble in the group — something Quavo and Offset would later touch on in an interview with "Big Facts" podcast. "We just stand on loyalty, we stand on real deal loyalty ... This ain't got nothing to do with no label, no paperwork, no QC, no nothing," Quavo said. "This got something to do with the three brothers and it is what it is. Right now we gon' be the duo till time tell."

Though none of the trio came out to speak on what caused the rift, fans believe Quavo hinted at it in his and Takeoff's song "Messy." Lyrics seemingly allude to someone close to him getting intimate with his ex-girlfriend Saweetie: "B***h f***ed my dog behind my back, but I ain't stressin' (Not at all)."

Migos and Lil Baby might be signed to the same record label, but rumor has it they all don't quite get along. The state of their relationship first came under question in 2020 when rumors started swirling that Offset got jumped by Lil Baby's crew following an altercation with the "In a Minute" rapper. Though Lil Baby denied the fight, per Complex, Offset reportedly unfollowed him on social media not long after. Then in 2022, things seemingly took a different turn after Lil Baby was linked with Quavo's ex-girlfriend Saweetie. While it remains unconfirmed if the two were truly an item, fans are convinced it was enough grounds for beef between him and the group.

Away from their label mate, Migos was reportedly feuding with XXXTentacion in 2017, who at the time had accused Drake of stealing his song. "How you unheard of talking about a n***a stole your swag? We ain't even heard of you, shorty," Offset said in response to XXX's claims, per BET. In November of that year, an aggrieved XXX accused Migos of jumping him while also claiming he chased down and assaulted Takeoff's bodyguard. "They jumped me ... Nobody gave me the respect of a one-on-one," he said. Migos has, however, since denied feuding with the late rapper.

Since breaking onto the scene in 2013, Migos has racked up an impressive social media presence, both as a group and as individuals. Boasting millions of followers across different platforms, Migos has had some viral moments over the years. Following the release of his 2018 solo single "Lose It," Quavo flagged off the #DJTakeoffChallenge after sharing a video of Takeoff DJing to the track. To add to the thrill, Quavo, per Fader, later announced an iced-out chain price for whoever had the best rendition of the challenge. And as you might have guessed, the internet did not disappoint with their versions. 

Also in 2018, Migos teamed up with the Tasty brand to create a promotional video showing them whipping up a stir-fry dish. Released shortly after their 2018 track "Stir Fry," the video was a hit. At the time of writing, the clip has garnered over 8 million views on YouTube. Clearly, Migos is widely loved, but if you ever had doubts, a quick scroll through their Instagram page might be all the convincing you need.

In 2015, Migos released their hit single "Look at my Dab," a song that quickly went viral due to its trendy eponymous dance move which the rap group claimed to have invented. "We did create The Dab," they said during a 2017 appearance on "Sports Center." "At first, it used to be called 'Ugh!' But then, we used to be real fresh and everybody be like 'Look at my Dab. Look at my Dab ... So, it was really a way of fashion. Dabbing was a way of fashion that turned into a dance."

With a slew of celebrities — including NBA pro LeBron James and NFL star Cam Newton — embracing the dance and showing off their own rendition, Migos realized, perhaps for the first time, their true impact on people. "We didn't know what it was going to do," they said. "We just had our cameraman recording us and we were just having fun at the time doing it."

Over the years, however, there has been controversy over the origin and meaning of the famous dab dance. According to Vibe, rapper Bow Wow once took to the internet, attempting to link the dance to marijuana use. However, he was met with opposition from the rap community, who disproved his claims.

In the early hours of November 1, 2022, Takeoff was fatally shot at the 810 Billiards and Bowling Alley in Houston, TMZ reported. Per the outlet, Quavo and Takeoff were playing dice when someone started shooting shortly after 2:30 a.m. There are reports of an altercation prior to the shooting. According to CNN, though dozens of people were present at the scene of the incident, authorities were able to speak to only a few. "A lot of people that were there fled the scene and did not stick around to give a statement," Sgt. Michael Arrington with the police department's homicide division said.

A shockingly devastating tragedy, Takeoff's death has been met with an outpouring of tributes from the hip-hop community as well as Hollywood at large. "I got the best memories of all of us seeing the world together and bringing light to every city we touch," Drake wrote on Instagram. "That's what I'll focus on for now 😔 rest easy space man." Taking to Twitter shortly after Takeoff's death was confirmed, singer SZA wrote: "This Takeoff sh** so weird ... I'm genuinely creeped out by the world. I cried. God bless that man's spirit his family and friends. SUCH A TALENTED SOUL ... ion understand."