Quavo is remembering the life of his nephew and Migos music companion the day after Takeoff’s memorial service in Atlanta.
The 31-year-old rapper posted a heartfelt message to Takeoff on Instagram Saturday recalling times from their youth when they collected WWE action figures, Takeoff’s passion for music and how upon his death Takeoff transitioned from nephew to Quavo’s angel.
“Dear Take, It’s so hard to tell you ima miss you because you (were) always with me and we did everything together,” Quavo wrote on Instagram. “Since we were kids you (have) been by my side looking up at me.”
Takeoff, the youngest member of Grammy Award-nominated rap trio Migos was shot and killed earlier this month outside a Houston bowling alley. A day before his death the artist, born Kirsnick Khari Ball, released the music video for “Messy,” one of the singles from his collaboration album with Quavo, “Only Built for Infinity Links.”
Fans, friends and family gathered in Atlanta Friday to pay their respects to Takeoff during a public memorial service where artists including Quavo, Drake and Offset took the stage to speak.
More:Fans praise slain Migos rapper Takeoff at Atlanta memorial: “Like I knew him personally”
“Throughout this whole time he had a real passion for music,” Quavo continued in his post. “It was his dream to become a rapper cuz I didn’t know what I wanted to do. … I knew he was gonna be a rapper.”
In Quavo’s tribute post he recalled how Takeoff knew every lyric from a New Orleans group “Hot Boyz” album and how together they won a talent show at the Boys and Girls Club rapping Big Tymers’ “Get Your Roll On.”
Remembering Takeoff:A closer look at Migos rapper’s name, projects
All three Migos members — Takeoff, Quavo and Offset — grew up together in the Atlanta area with Quavo and Takeoff sharing a familial bond and close friend Offset joining the duo in their teenage years. Quavo said he and Takeoff “hated the word nephew” because they felt their relationship was closer.
“I knew you weren’t my brother cuz you are my sister’s son, so I couldn’t say brother. Now I finally get it … you are our angel watching me and watching us this whole time in living form,” Quavo wrote. “I’m proud we saw the world and done things we couldn’t ever imagine together.”
Before posting his message, Quavo posted a series of photos that included him and Takeoff as kids, as teenagers and as adults.
“Praying for u and the family,” Snoop Dogg commented.
Friday Cardi B posted a series of pictures of Takeoff to remember his life and his “untimely passing.”
The rapper, who is married to Migos member Offset, wrote about Takeoff’s impact saying the pain of his death “has been incomparable.”
“The emptiness your brothers are feeling is unbearable and I pray that you give Offset ,Quavo, and your friends and family the strength to keep going as they are trying to cope with this loss,” Cardi B wrote. “As a Migos fan it hurts me to look at pictures and videos of y’all together, and hearing y’all songs that changed the music industry.”
Cardi B appeared on Migos’ “MotorSport” alongside Nicki Minaj and wrote that she will remember Takeoff’s “remarkable” talent.
“I pray that you are at peace and in paradise because you deserve every bit of it. I know God opened the heavenly gates for you with a warm embrace,” she wrote.
