Torii MacAdams‘ only advanced degree is in Migos Studies
I was introduced to Migos by Pat, the eldest son of café owners, and the only person to drink malt liquor with me during our college’s alcohol-free “dry week.” Thank you, Pat.
Since their breakout single, “Versace,” Migos have been favorably compared to The Beatles, shrugged off the advances of Drake, signed an ill-fated deal with Lyor Cohen’s 300 Entertainment, had a member imprisoned for eight months, recorded an “official debut” that commercially flopped, watched Young Thug, 21 Savage, and Lil Yachty become media darlings, had Rae Sremmurd usurp the title of Better Than The Beatles, left 300 Entertainment, and, through their literal trials and tribulations, released 12 mixtapes, an EP, and recorded verses for every trap rapper and dope boy in Fulton, DeKalb, and Gwinnett counties.
Migos were championed and discarded by a fickle, myopic rap press with a speed best reserved for the Bonneville Salt Flats. Humans are thoughtless, end-of-days megalodons, consuming ourselves into extinction, and the degraded state of the arts is but a small part of our post-truth, value-free existences. Migos feel old because rappers are unwitting victims of planned obsolescence. Quavo and Offset are 25 years old, Takeoff is 22.
Their trio’s success is a joyous, cosmically improbable one. Quavo is Takeoff’s uncle, Offset their cousin, and, on record, they can be indistinguishable. Factually, none of the three are Atlantans; Quavo and Takeoff moved from Athens to Lawrenceville as children, and it was in the woodsy, Atlanta suburb that the boys and their newly close cousin began rapping. Their rasping drawls and double-time flows interlock like gears, tiles, or fingers. This is rap born from poverty, fatherlessness, crime, but, above all, courage and invention. Theirs is a bond forged by struggle.
These twinned compilations, Three the Hard Way and Migos Amigos, are technically Best Of’s, but they’re also meant to document the evolution of the group, from Juug Season to the upcoming Culture. Three the Hard Way is Migos only, Migos Amigos is a mix of shared songs and guest verses. For simplicity’s sake, all songs adhere to a basic rule: It’s not a Migos song unless two members appear. If you want to call me an idiot for omitting “Hannah Montana” or “New Atlanta” or “Cross The Country,” that’s fine–it’s not the only reason my intelligence should be questioned. Below are the tracklists and, more importantly, links to .zip files.
Three the Hard Way
1. Story Of A Snake
2. Pull Out
3. Chirpin
4. Ounces
5. Versace
6. Fight Night
7. Emmitt Smith
8. Pipe It Up
9. Look At My Dab
10. One Time
11. Trap Funk
12. Memoirs
13. Trap Problems
14. Burnt Out
15. Forrest Whitaker
16. YRN 2
17. 3 Way
18. Chapter 1
Migos Amigos
1. Migos & Rich The Kid – Goin Down
2. Migos ft. Gucci Mane & Young Thug – Holmes
3. Migos ft. Gucci Mane – Get Down
4. Migos ft. T.I. – Trouble
5. Migos ft. Peewee Longway, Hoodrich Pablo Juan, Jose Guapo – Trap Dab Freestyle
6. Young Thug ft. Migos – Quarterback
7. Migos ft. Young Thug – Freestyle
8. Makonnen ft. Migos – Whip It (Remix)
9. Gucci Mane ft. Migos & Peewee Longway – Mr. Serv-On
10. Migos & Rich The Kid – Dat Way
11. Migos ft. Young Thug – Cocoon (Remix)
12. Migos ft. Lil Uzi Vert – Bad and Boujee
13. Alchemist ft. Migos & Mac Miller – Jabroni
