Migos rapper Takeoff confirmed dead aged 28 after being shot
American rapper Takeoff, real name Kirshnik Khari Ball, has been shot and killed at the age of 28 at an event in Houston, Texas, his representative confirmed to the Associated Press.
Houston Police confirmed on social media that officers responded to a shooting on 1200 Polk St in the early hours of 1 November, explaining that one of the victims was found dead upon arrival.
They later reported that two other individuals had been taken to hospital in private vehicles and would provide an update on the identity of the victim when his family had been informed and his ID confirmed by the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences.
Fans of the rapper paid tribute to his memory, calling him a 'lyric and flow genius' while hailing him as a music 'legend forever'.
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Fellow rapper Lil Pump said 'God plz tell me this ain't true', while others offered 'condolences to the whole family'.
Chris Eubank Jr took to Twitter to praise him as a 'very down to earth, cool dude' and said it was 'sickening' that he had died.
The 28-year-old rapper began his career in 2008 rapping alongside his uncle Quavo (Quavious Keyate Marshall) and cousin Offset (Kiari Kendrell Cephus), forming a group they named Polo Club.
The family trio would later change this name to Migos, which they have stuck with throughout the rest of their music careers.
They put themselves on the music map with the release of the song 'Versace' in 2013, a track which ended up being remixed by Drake.
Drake would go on to feature in their 2018 track 'Walk It Talk It', while 'MotorSport' featured appearances from Nicki Minaj and Cardi B, who married Offset in 2017.
Rapping alongside his uncle and his cousin, Takeoff launched the group's debut album 'Yung Rich Nation' in 2015 with guest appearances from Chris Brown and Young Thug.
A year later, Migos scored their first hit number one single with the song 'Bad and Boujee', though Takeoff was only featured briefly in the music video for the song with the rapper saying he was busy at time of recording.
In 2017, the group launched Culture, their second album which reached number one in the charts and achieved platinum status.
A year later they released Culture II, which also opened at the number one spot on the Billboard 200, while last year they completed their trilogy of albums by releasing Culture III.
The group also appeared on the first season of TV show Atlanta portraying fictional versions of themselves.
Joe Harker