Takeoff, Of The Rap Trio Migos, Has Died At 28 After A Shooting In Houston
TMZ reports that Takeoff, the youngest member of Georgia rap trio Migos, died early this morning after he was shot during a fight in Houston, TX. Takeoff died at the scene. He was only 28.
At around 2:30 this morning, the Houston Police Department got a call that there was a shooting at a bowling alley called 810 Billiards & Bowling Houston. Witnesses say that Takeoff was at the bowling alley with his uncle/Migos groupmate, 31-year-old Quavo, and the two were playing dice when a fight broke out. That fight led to gunfire, which sadly took the life of Takeoff at the way, way, way, way too young age of 28. Takeoff was pronounced dead at the scene. Quavo was not hurt in the shooting. Houston PD said in a press conference that two other victims were taken to the hospital. via KPRC:
According to HPD Lt. Salazar, 40 to 50 people were at the location when the shooting took place. The party reportedly ended at 1 a.m. but carried over until the incident occurred. Investigators said they found multiple shell casings on the third level outside the bowling and pool hall.
During a press conference, police confirmed that group members Quavo and Takeoff were in attendance at the time of the shooting. Two additional victims were taken to nearby hospitals in private vehicles in unknown condition, HPD said.
Houston PD would not give the identity of the victim killed in the shooting, but a rep for Migos confirmed it was Takeoff. His killer is still at large. Also, beware when tiptoe scrolling through Twitter today because there are post-shooting videos out there.
Takeoff was born Kirshnik Khari Ball on June 18, 1994 in Lawrenceville, Georgia. When Takeoff was just 14 years old, he, his uncle Quavo, and Offset, his first cousin twice removed, formed a rap trio that was originally named Polo Club but later changed to Migos. After releasing two mixtapes, Juug Season (2011) and No Label (2012), their song Versace broke into the mainstream in 2013 and was remixed by Drake, who also brought them on tour with him. Their debut album, Yung Rich Nation, came out in 2015, and they followed that up in 2016 with Culture, their second studio album and the first in their Culture trilogy. Culture featured the track Bad and Bougie (featuring Lil Uzi Vert), the group’s first #1 hit. Migos’ third studio album Culture II came out in 2018. They wrapped up their Culture trilogy by releasing Culture III last year.
Takeoff was in the middle of a civil suit filed by a woman who claimed he sexually assaulted her at a house party in 2020. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office chose not to charge Takeoff due to “insufficient evidence.” The civil suit was scheduled to go to trial next year. Takeoff denied the allegations.
Earlier this year, there were rumors that Migos broke up over label issues and Offset allegedly getting with Quavo’s ex-girlfriend Saweetie. Migos was vague about their alleged break-up, but some felt those rumors slid into 100% true territory when Uncle Quavo and Takeoff became a duo. Their first album as a duo, Only Built for Infinity Links, was released last month, and the video for their song, Messy, just came out yesterday:
Here are tributes to Takeoff from Keke Palmer, Ja Rule, Jemele Hill, Gucci Mane, Flea, Keri Hilson, and Da Brat:
Rip Takeoff… this shit has to STOP… sending love to friends and family 🕊🙏🏾
— Ja Rule (@jarule) November 1, 2022
I was in college when Biggie and ‘Pac were killed and thought there was no way we’d ever experience anything remotely close to that again. Now it’s happening so frequently that you barely have time to recover before someone else killed. RIP Takeoff.
— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) November 1, 2022
Oh man, heart weighed down, god help us https://t.co/lO6C8LZuYN
— Flea (@flea333) November 1, 2022
Pic: Media Punch/INSTARimages.com