Offset has opened up about the pain he feels over the death of Migos bandmate Takeoff.
Speaking with Variety, the rapper shared that it’s difficult for him to answer questions about Takeoff, who was killed in November in a shooting outside a Houston bowling alley. He was 28.
“It’s hard for me to talk about s— right now,” Offset he said.
“I’ve never talked about this stuff. Seriously. Talking about Take is hard, man. … Talking about all this s— is hard. That’s why I don’t, to be honest. That s— hurts.”
Offset and Quavo, the surviving members of Migos, waited weeks before responding publicly to the tragedy. A “shattered” Offset wrote on Instagram at the time that Takeoff’s death didn’t “feel like reality” and that “reality feels like a nightmare.”
Six months after attending Takeoff’s funeral in Atlanta, Offset was still reluctant to discuss the loss of his longtime friend and collaborator because, he said, “it’s gonna put me in a mood, and I don’t want to get in that mood.”
“Some things I don’t never tell nobody,” he continued.
“He’s not here. That s— feels fake, bro. … I get through my day thinking it’s fake. And I don’t say nothing to nobody about it.”
Takeoff and his uncle Quavo performed with Offset as the hip-hop trio Migos for more than a decade, earning two Grammy nominations and releasing hits such as “Walk It Talk It,” “Stir Fry” and “Bad and Boujee.” Now, Offset is preparing to release his sophomore solo album, which includes a collaboration with his late friend.
“You wanna hear my last song with Takeoff?” he asked the trade outlet, explaining that he and the man who was not his cousin after all recorded the track last summer. He also showed off a large back tattoo of Takeoff’s face.
“It’s my favorite picture of him,” Offset said. “I like it because he had his glasses off.”
Takeoff is among several artists featured on Offset’s next record, including Travis Scott, Future, Chloe Bailey, Latto and Cardi B. Offset and rapper Cardi B wed in September 2017, survived a near-divorce in 2020 and share two children: Kulture, 4, and Wave, 1.
“This is me going full-fledged into my solo career,” Offset told Variety of his current project.
“The objective is to do it fully and smash s— and f— the game up as a solo artist. I’m coming through, bustin’ through the door. It’s all set, my next chapter. It’s my time.”
This story originally appeared on LA Times
