Quavois writing through grief after his nephew and former Migos group-mateTakeoffwas shot and killed at age 28 in Houston two months ago.
On Thursday, the 31-year-old rapper released “Without You,” an emotional tribute to Takeoff that finds Quavo utilizing his singing chops to express feelings of missing his relative and look back on their time spent together.
“Tears rollin' down my eyes / Can’t tell you how many times I cried / Days ain’t the same without you / I don’t know if I’m the same without you,” he opens the song’s first verse before reminiscing on their career as two-thirds of Migos alongside Offset. “Remember the days we smoked big blunts together? / Remember the days we rocked out Coachella? / Remember the days we ain’t have our s— together?”
Takeoff and Quavo.Johnny Nunez/WireImage
The song was released alongside a lyric video featuring black-and-white footage of Quavo smoking what appears to be marijuana in a recording studio while listening to “Without You.”
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Shortly afterTakeoff’s death in November, Quavo shared an emotional eulogy alongside a collage of personal photos, as he reflected on the bond that they shared.
“This whole time I’ve been trying to figure out what you really are to me because nephew wasn’t it. We hated the word ‘nephew’ or when they said ‘Unc and Phew’ because we always knew we were way closer than that and it made me feel old too,” Quavo wrote. “Now I finally get it… you are OUR angel watching me and watching us this whole time in living form, making sure EVERYONE FELT UR LOVE AND HUGS while u here and u made our dreams come true.”
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As Quavo recalled, Takeoff had a “REAL passion for music” from a young age, and while Quavo wasn’t sure what he wanted to do and attempted to pursue sports, Takeoff already “knew every song off the Hot Boyz album.”
“So it’s safe to say we had something going then,” Quavo wrote. “It came easy to us when it came to style and swag. We were always looking like somebody cuz our mama dressed us like rappers or grown men as u can see in the pictures! Our clothes were huge, but we had the look!!!”
Beyond their childhood together, Quavo toasted Takeoff’s work with Migos — the Grammy-nominated group that they formed alongside cousinOffsetthat went on to earn two Billboard No. 1 albums. He attributed the creation of Migos' iconic “triplet flow,” which they brought to the forefront of popular music throughout the 2010s, to Takeoff.
“He never worried about titles, credit, or what man got the most shine, that wasn’t him,” Quavo continued, “He didn’t care about none of that as long as we brought it back home to the family!”
Wrapping up his eulogy, Quavo asked his late nephew to ask God what he has to do to “be with you again… In a place where there’s no pain, no demons, no jealousy, no envy, no greed.”
“Whatever we have to do God, to be at that place of paradise, send us the tools now cuz we wanna be with Take. Love you nephew!”
source: people.com
