Migos rapper Quavo pens tribute to late nephew and bandmate Takeoff in heartfelt open letter after the rapper's public memorial service
- Rapper Quavo shared an open letter on Instagram on Saturday as a tribute to his late nephew.
- In the post, Quavo reminisced and attributed his success to Takeoff's dream to become a rapper.
Quavo shared a heartfelt tribute to his late nephew and Migos bandmate Takeoff in an open letter shared to Instagram on Saturday morning.
The post marked the first public statement from the native Atlanta rapper since Takeoff's memorial service Friday. The ceremony was held at Atlanta's State Farm Arena, where artists Drake, Justin Bieber, and cousin and fellow Migos member Offset shared tributes, Yahoo! Life reported.
Quavo witnessed the shooting death of Takeoff — real name Kirshnik Khari Ball — in Houston, Texas on Nov. 1. The Houston Police Department responded to reports of a shooting around 2:30 a.m. at 810 Billiards & Bowling where the rapper was pronounced dead at the scene.
In the letter, Quavo — real name Quavius Marshall — reminisced on their childhood together, as the rappers were born just three years apart. According to Quavo, 31, he and Takeoff, 28, didn't always dream of becoming hip-hop stars.
"Remember, our first dream was to be tag team partners in WWE," the rapper wrote. "We fell in love with WWF wrestling..man we had every action figure."
He went on to attribute the success of the Migos group to Takeoff's drive to become a rapper. The Migos rap group was formed in 2008 by Takeoff along with Quavo and their cousin Offset. They were originally called Polo Club before adopting the name Migos.
"Throughout this whole time he had a REAL passion for music," the letter read. "It was HIS dream to become a rapper cuz I didn't kno what I wanted to do."
The open letter — spanning three slides on Instagram — garnered nearly one million likes and tens of thousands of comments within the first two hours of being published. Celebrities and fans alike offered their condolences to Takeoff's family.
"Stay strong! We rooting for you to keep it going!! LLTAKEOFF❤️," City Girls rapper JT wrote.
Rapper Cardi B also penned an emotional message to Takeoff in an Instagram post Friday night. The "Up" singer is currently married to Offset — real name Kiari Cephus.
"I am heartbroken but I am grateful for all the precious memories we got to share while you were here with us," she wrote. "This has truly been a nightmare and the pain is incomparable."