Migos has officially “made it.” To clarify, their mainstream notoriety pales in comparison to their mixtape glory. If you've only just been introduced this year, you're late. However, we can’t deny that they’re riding a high wave of popularity — from their Golden Globes shout-out, to teaching a class on culture at the prestigious New York University. They’ve made bedtime stories great again, and they swapped their flashy chains for specs and slacks on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. With the public packaging of Migos as a pop group that just so happens to make trap music, the application of boy band tropes have followed close behind. In this case, it’s the assumption that there has to be an outlier in the group. That outlier is Quavo. The general consensus seems to be that Quavo is the Beyoncé of Migos. I’ve even joked about it on Twitter, but I’m not sure I’m really convinced.
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When the trio released the official video for their single “What’s the Price,” Paper magazine boldly declared that Quavo was having his Bey moment with Kelly and Michelle in tow. I thought this assessment was a reach, because Zaytoven — the amazing producer playing his keytar atop a flipped car in front of some flames — was clearly the Beyoncé here. And the internet was full of jokes this weekend when Quavo joined Drake in the studio without his group mates. Quavo even has a legit clone in the form of singer Jacquees — a phenomenon that I still think is a government conspiracy.
It’s also worth noting that Quavo is the most stable of the group. Offset is only recently putting his legal problems behind him, a scenario that threatened to reduce Migos to a duo. And while all three members are proud of their weed intake, Takeoff is clearly the stoner of the group. When I spent a magical week in New York attending a couple of their album release events, it was Takeoff who was clearly “slowed down” by the effects. It appears that Quavo is the golden boy who is able to pick up the slack and carry the rest of the group. This is real reason I’m not ready to proclaim him ready to leave the nest and fly higher than his nephew and cousin (keep that nugget for your Migos trivia night).
Ultimately, it seems like Quavo wants what’s best for Migos. He works hard at it. A solo career was always in the plan for Beyoncé. Destiny’s Child was built around the potential for all of its members to have solo careers. By the time Destiny's Child became a trio, it was clear that we were tuning in to see Beyoncé and the gang. But the magic of Migos is in the unique sound they’ve created collectively. Their harmonies are kind of unmatched in hip-hop, only imitated. They’ve set a trend to which Quavo adds a coat of shiny wax. He would make a great solo artist, but Quavo is just as great in Migos.