Updated as of 11/1/2022 at 8:45 a.m. ET:
The hip-hop world is stunned yet again at the news that one of its biggest stars has been murdered in an apparent act of gun violence.
Takeoff, one-third of the Atlanta-based megagroup Migos, was shot and killed in Houston overnight in a shooting outside a bowling alley, according to multiple news reports. He was 28 years old.
Local station KHOU-11 reported that Takeoff, whose real name was Kirshnik Khari Ball, was at the 810 Bowling Alley with fellow Migos member and his uncle Quavo, for a private party when a shooting broke out. The deceased victim was hit in the head and neck, and two others were injured, KHOU reported. The shooting happened around 2:30 this morning.
TMZ published screenshots of a video obtained from the shooting scene in which Quavo, wearing an orange shirt and dark jeans with a flowered pattern on them, and others are standing around the fallen body of someone whose face and neck have been blurred. The outlet reported that the shooting happened following a dice game in which the two Migos members were playing. KHOU said the party was supposed to end at about 1 a.m., but about 40 people were still at the scene when the shooting took place roughly 90 minutes later.
Takeoff’s death comes amid a wave of shootings of rappers and as an increase in gun violence is a topic around the country.
It also happened as the future of the pioneering group Migos was in flux. In a July story in GQ, Quavo spoke about pursuing a solo career. In August, Variety reported on an ongoing legal battle between Offset and the Migos’ record label, Quality Control, over the rights to his solo projects.
As an artist, Takeoff had immense success thanks to the work he released with the Migos. Coming together as a trio in 2008, he and the group rose in popularity after the release of their 2013 single, “Versace,” which was later remixed by Drake and became an absolute smash hit.
But, the song that took them over the top on a mainstream level was the 2015 single “Bad and Boujee,” featuring Lil Uzi Vert. The single eventually went to number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Their 2017 album, Culture, debuted at number 1 on the US Billboard 200 and would put them among the most recognizable rappers in the country.
Takeoff’s only studio album, The Last Rocket, was released nearly four years from the day he was fatally shot.