After members of the rap trio Migos clashed on social media, Quavo and Takeoff left the group and released their own album, “Only Built For Infinity Links” on Friday.
Migos, which was made up of Offset, Quavo and Takeoff, looked to be in danger of breaking up in April after Offset unfollowed both Quavo and Takeoff, according to an Aug. 25 UPROXX article, a pop culture website dedicated to entertainment, music, lifestyle and sports.
The reason behind Offset’s departure is still unclear to the public and is surprising because of the group’s “brotherhood” motto.
With the band’s future up in the air, Quavo and Takeoff wasted no time in dropping another album.
Though the mystique of Quavo and Takeoff creating their own project made the album intriguing, “Only Built for Infinity Links” falls short and sounds like the same old, redundant Migos who have been releasing music for the past five years.
When Migos dropped their sophomore album “Culture,” they brought a new sound that mixed classic southern flow with a heavy 808 bass.
But the trio never grew from that sound given they tried to replicate the sound on future albums.
Offset’s absence is felt on a lot of the tracks in “Only Built For Infinity Links.” His brash flow and tricky word play could have fit in perfectly with the album’s production.
But after listening to four songs, I asked myself, “Could this be a new sound that makes them relevant again?”
The album starts off strong with “Two Infinity Links,” which is similar to previous Migos openers in that it makes you want to run through a wall.
“Hotel Lobby” brings an adrenaline rush with the song mixing a good blend of the classic Atlanta-trap trumpets and a hard 808 drum machine.
The best track on the album is “Bars into Captions,” which samples the 2000 hip-hop classic “So Fresh, So Clean” by hip-hop duo OutKast.
OutKast has been an influential group that has had national and local influence on the Atlanta rap scene. Their mix of weird word delivery and mellow beats is an interesting juxtaposition to traditional Atlanta-trap music that involves nothing more than a slow delivery and fast paced beat.
I’m usually not a fan of artists sampling rap tracks because the genre is oversaturated with them but Migos killed it on that track.
They brought back the sounds of Migos from 2018, which was a heavy mix of up-beat flow over heavy bass production.
Takeoff took the second verse of the song and copied the same flow as popular rapper and OutKast member Andre 3000 did in “So Fresh, So Clean.”
Takeoff didn’t copy Andre 3000’s exact words and had his own creative take on the verse.
After the song “Bars Into Captions,” the album goes on to be a mix of repetitive strip club music and mid-Atlanta trap that has dominated hip-hop in recent years.
When it came to the tracks that featured other artists, Migos was unable to play to the different rappers’ strengths.
I was excited to hear “Chocolate,” which featured rappers Young Thug and Gunna, but was disappointed.
Bars including, “I just copped some molly, it was looking like sand. Shittin’ on you n***** wanna keep this shit stainless,” were dreadful to hear.
“Mixy,” featuring singer Summer Walker, was another tough listen.
Walker’s greatest strength as an R&B singer is a low, melodic production in which she can drag out her voice on a track.
Instead, Walker was rapping over a trap beat that only served to be beneficial for Takeoff and Quavo.
There were also so many “throwaway” songs that were littered throughout the album.
“Big Stunna,” “Us vs. Them” and “Tools” were a few songs that did not deserve to be on the album.
Themed albums are slowly starting to die off in the rap industry, but Quavo and Takeoff are just not good enough to veer off the genre’s usual trend of unthemed albums.
A first listen to the album may make listeners think that they are going back to their roots.
The duo seemed to be on their way to making something that hip-hop fans have been craving from Migos.
The cover art, which portrays them imitating OutKast’s classic “Stankonia” album cover, and the album title, which is a reference to “Only Built 4 Cuban Linx” by hip-hop legend and Wu-Tang Clan member Raekwon, makes it seem as though the duo is going back to the roots of rap while creating a sound that is unique to them.
Quavo said the album is going to “pay homage” to hip-hop legends while defining their own legacy as artists, according to a Friday Vibe Magazine article, an entertainment magazine that predominantly features R&B and hip-hop artists.
However, the duo missed the mark on creating a new era for the group.
Along with that expectation from fans, the album fell short.
Instead of getting a new sound or another breakout album, listeners get more of the same Migos that many have seen for years.
The group still has time to turn it around as their influence over the Atlanta rap scene is still somewhat prominent.
But instead of becoming the new OutKast, they might have set themselves up to be irrelevant outcasts in the music industry.
