Takeoff, one of the three components of the hip-hop band Migos, has been shot to death in a Houston bowling alley, according to TMZ and police sources have later confirmed to various media.
Takeoff, 28, whose real name is Kirsnik Khari Ball, was born in Lawrenceville, Georgia in 1994. He formed Migos with his uncle Quavo (Quavious Keyate Marshall) and his cousin Offset (Kiari Kendrell Cephus).
The rapper was shot to death at a downtown Houston bowling alley at a private Halloween party where he was with his uncle, Quavos, around 2:30 a.m. Monday through Tuesday.
According to local media, some 40 to 50 people were in the bowling alley when the shooting took place.
Takeoff died on the spot while Quavo was uninjured and two other people sustained gunshot wounds and were taken to hospital.
The components of the hip hop band Migos, at a gala in New York in 2018. From left to right, Offset, Quavo and Takeoff. CARLO ALLEGRI (REUTERS)
Takeoff is the latest in a string of rappers who have been shot to death in the past year in the United States.
In September, PnB Rock died after being shot during a robbery at a Los Angeles restaurant, where the robber had gone after learning on Instagram that the musician was there with his girlfriend and that they were wearing jewelry.
In November of last year, rapper Young Dolph was shot to death outside a cookie shop in Memphis, Tennessee, when he was 36 years old.
The musician was hit by bullets when he was leaving the commercial establishment.
A car stopped and he was shot several times from one of the front windows.
The trio to which Takeoff belonged, originally called the Polo Club, changed their name to Migos.
Formed in 2009 and seasoned in the Atlanta
trap
scene , Migos starred in an extraordinary popular, media and commercial rise, refining and updating their sound until it became an amalgamation of ideas with enormous influence on urban music.
Their characteristic sound, of broken sentences from one of them to which the other two respond with a word or a sound, has been much imitated.
That sound integrated three notes where theoretically two would go and generated that sensation of rap out of kilter with the rhythm, which Drake, Kanye West or Kendrick Lamar have used after them.
Versace,
released in 2013
,
It was their first big hit, which propelled them headfirst into stardom and was covered by Drake.
Since that success, Migos have become one of the most successful rap groups of all time, with twenty singles, platinum and gold albums and numerous awards in the golden age of the group, from 2013 to 2018, mainly.
Each installment of his
Culture
trilogy was awaited with great anticipation.
In parallel to their musical successes, the members of the band were also frequently in the news for other matters.
In 2013, Offset was booked into the DeKalb County Jail, Georgia, for violating probation he had received due to felony burglary and larceny convictions.
In 2014 they were involved in a dispute with Chief Keefe.
In 2015, after a concert at the University of South Atlanta in which they played much less time than stipulated, the trio of rappers and 12 members of their entourage were arrested for possession of marijuana and other prohibited substances, possession of firearms inside of an educational safety zone, possession of firearms during the commission of a crime, and possession of firearms by convicted felons
Offset was arrested for driving on a suspended license in Atlanta in 2016, but was released the next day without charges being filed.
In 2017, Offset himself was kicked off a flight for an incident with his carry-on luggage before takeoff.
That same year, Florida rapper XXXTentacion claimed that the group had injured him and had pointed a gun at him.
In March 2018, the Washington Avenue Armory in Albany, New York, sued the group for inciting a riot at the premises in 2015, when six people were stabbed.
A concertgoer who suffered facial injuries also sued the band and the venue.
The trio had apparently broken up, albeit without any official announcement.
Offset had embarked on a solo career, while Takeoff and Quavo were performing as a duo.
Last month, the pair released a duet album,
Built for Infinity Links.
Takeoff also released a solo album in 2018.
