HOUSTON β The rapper TakeOff, best known for his work with the Grammy-nominated trio Migos, is dead after a shooting early Tuesday outside a bowling alley in downtown Houston, a representative confirmed. He was 28.
Kirsnick Khari Ball, known as TakeOff, was part of Migos along with his uncle Quavo and cousin Offset. A representative for Migos, who was not authorized to speak publicly, confirmed his death to The Associated Press.
Isaiah Lopez, 24, said he rushed down from his home in Humble after hearing TakeOff had been killed.
βHe was one of our favorites, mine and my brotherβs. Itβs all we would listen to,β Lopez said as he carried a dozen roses he hoped to place near the site of the shooting. βAs soon as my brother called me and said, βTakeOff is gone,β I had to come over here and pay my respects.β
Thomas Moreno, 30, who lives about five minutes away from the site of the shooting, said he had met TakeOff at an event at a Houston bar and restaurant in June and said he was βa real nice guy.β
βI feel itβs just another good person gone too soon,β Moreno said. βThis happens every day but it hurts, even more, when itβs somebody so talented and so young.β
TakeOff was the youngest member of Migos, the rap trio from suburban Atlanta. They first broke through with the massive hit βVersaceβ in 2013. The song was remixed by Drake heightening its popularity.
RELATED: Who was TakeOff? The rise of Migos
The group had four Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, though TakeOff was not on their multi-week No. 1 βBad and Boujee,β featuring Lil Uzi Vert. They put out a trilogy of albums called βCulture,β βCulture IIβ and βCulture III,β with the first two albums hitting No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart. They also earned an ASCAP Vanguard Award in 2018, for their streaming success with multiplatinum songs like βMotorsport (featuring Cardi B and Nicki Minaj),β βStir Fry,β and βWalk It Talk It.β
The trio also played a fictional version of themselves on an episode of the hit TV show βAtlanta,β but the group wasnβt together.
Offset, who is married to Cardi B, released a solo album in 2019, while TakeOff and Quavo released a joint album βOnly Built for Infinity Linksβ last month.
Here is some of the social media reaction to news of the TakeOff's death: