Two months ago, the former Migos member Takeoff was shot dead outside a Houston bowling alley. He was just 28. The loss remains unfathomable. Takeoff was the least extroverted member of the Migos, and he was also the youngest, but by all accounts he’s the one who got the group up and going and who developed their darting triplet flow. Since Takeoff’s murder, we’ve been watching his friends and peers struggling to process the loss in real time. Today, Quavo, Takeoff’s uncle and closest collaborator, has shared “Without You,” the new song that he’s written in tribute to Takeoff.

Takeoff and Quavo were inseparable even after Migos broke up, and they’d just released Unc & Phew their first album as a duo, just before Takeoff’s murder. Takeoff died right in front of Quavo. Quavo and estranged former Migos member Offset both spoke at Takeoff’s funeral, and they shared their eulogies afterward. The new Quavo song “Without You” is the first music that Quavo has released since Takeoff died. (Gucci Mane, a mentor figure to the Migos, did something similar when he released “Letter To Takeoff” in November.)

On “Without You,” Quavo largely abandons the jumpy, flashy rap style that made him famous. Instead, he sings mournfully, sometimes falling into old cadences almost out of habit. The lyrics are simple, but they convey heavy things: “I wish I had a time machine, just so you can take a ride with me/ I miss just how you smile at me/ Unc and Phew until infinity… I wouldn’t have got it out the mud without you/ It’s hard to see Mama Love without you.” The track has a soft, hazy beat, and five producers are credited, including Mike Dean, Murda Beatz, and longtime Migos collaborator Zaytoven.

In related news, Rolling Stone reports that Patrick Clark, the man accused of murdering Takeoff, has been released ahead of his trial after posting a $1 million bond.

Listen to “Without You” below.

https://twitter.com/quavostuntin/status/1610841691988148224

Right now, “Without You” doesn’t have a proper commercial release. It’s raw expression of pain, not a new single.