Atlanta supergroup Migos has been on a bit of a release streak recently. Beginning with their Cinco De Mayo anthem “Taco Tuesday” that was a bit of a novelty and then moving on to “Racks 2 Skinny”, the crew has been releasing more music in the last few weeks than they have in recent memory, so I couldn’t be more excited. Although I’m definitely a bigger fan of some of the classic mixtapes that put them on the map rather than their more recent albums, I could never knock them for getting money and gaining more fans than ever before. Even in the middle of all of this excitement in their worlds musically, Quavo took to social media to announce that he has finally completed high school and is now graduating alongside the rest of the class of 2020. It may not sound like a massive accomplishment to some, but I’m impressed personally. Quavo is set for life and definitely doesn’t need his high school diploma for anything, but it shows his determination and drive to go back and get it to satisfy that part of his life for his own self-fulfillment, so good for him.
Aside from that, Migos are back with assistance from the blossoming young talent YoungBoy Never Broke Again on their newest song “Need It”. A high-pitched, sharp synth is the first recognizable element of the production, and it’s met with some crisp percussion as well as a mixture of pounding 808s and more succinct, punchy drums. If it sounds slightly familiar, that’s because it actually samples 50 Cent’s song “Get in my Car” off of his 2005 album The Massacre. The hook is performed by both Offset and YoungBoy, and the way they trade-off lines is pretty entertaining. NBA’s delivery actually sounds like a slightly more melodic version of Offset’s stern, assertive voice, so the two spitting bars back to back is a lot of fun to hear. They continue this tag-team effort directly into the first verse, but end up switching up sporadically throughout, not sticking to every other line as they did in the chorus. What’s even more interesting is the fact that the two artists sort of mimic each other’s flows in each bar, keeping the cadence consistent while the actual sonic differences in the sounds of their voices switch up. The delivery isn’t uncharacteristic for the Migos but is still as impressive as ever, as rapid lyrics are recited before giving them a split second to breathe, mimicking the sound of a burst of bullets firing out of a gun before needing to reload.
Takeoff and Quavo actually end up doing the same thing as their counterparts in the second verse, and I like this pairing even more. Takeoff’s deep voice and always impressive flows combined with Quavo’s harmoniously autotuned vocals and ability to bring songs to the next level just combine in a perfect way. Normally they aren’t heard directly side by side other than within their ad-lib additions, but I really enjoy hearing them like this because they truly do switch up cadences out of nowhere, then take the other person’s flow and run with it before changing it up once again. This keeps listeners on their toes at all times because you never know what to expect next, which is probably my favorite part of this track. As in typical Migos fashion, they talk about their fair share of guns, money, and luxuries, but expand on these things as well, mentioning things like their drug dealing pasts, paving the way for an entirely new generation of music, and how their sound was stolen by everyone and now these copycats want to take their fashion as well.
Migos will always be one of my favorite groups in Rap because they just never fail to impress me with their flows if nothing else. Their triplet style is what put them on the map, and it was impressive as is back in the day, but they continue to innovate and invent new cadences that I don’t believe I’ll ever get tired of hearing. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Takeoff is my favorite out of the trio because he seems to try and push the envelope more than anyone else, coming up with intricate ways to recite a line unlike anyone else ever has, so I’ve always appreciated that. While YoungBoy was definitely a nice addition to this track, I believe the group could have bodied this song regardless, so he was set up for success from the start. Once again, with all of this new music coming from the supergroup, I have no clue if this means an album is on the horizon or not, but I’m just happy that we’re getting new music from them regardless. “Need It” is the name of Migos’ entertaining new single, so don’t miss out and give it a listen as soon as possible.