Quavo, Takeoff, and Offset are renowned for their telepathy in the booth. They communicate like the trees in Avatar, like Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison, like John Coltrane and McCoy Tyner.
On numerous occasions the Migos have been invited to freestyle live on the radio to showcase their collective clairvoyance. With a full soundboard of ad-libs (personal favorite: Takeoff's "MOMMA") wired into their system, the Migos are a force to be reckoned with, even when their lyrics are not world-class.
We ranked six Migos radio freestyles. Read on to check them out in ascending order of greatness.
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6. Power 105 Freestyle
This freestyle is from the early summer of 2013, a few weeks after Drake dropped the "Versace" remix. Right when Migos were just starting to get hot! Takeoff and Quavo trade lines over A$AP Ferg's "Work," but Offset is nowhere to be found. Takeoff and Quavo without Offset is like Larry and Curly without Moe.
The freestyle begins at the 4:01 mark.
5. TIM WESTWOOD TV Freestyle
It's pretty clear that the Migos ran out of gas somewhere in the first half off this 17-minute marathon, in which they are thrown nine different beats from Rowdy Rebel's "Computers" to "Gucci Mane's "Lemonade." It's pretty cool to see Offset drop some French jargon though.
4. Children's Book Freestyle
Power 106 host Cruz invited the Migos to partake in his “Llama Llama Red Pajama” challenge, in which a rapper(s) raps the titular children's book over a beat of his choosing. Each member of the ATL troika takes his turn reciting/spitting the words in the book over the "Bad and Boujee" beat while the supporting members spice things up with a savory blend of ad-libs. Eventually they push the book aside and start rhyming "llama" with everything from "Obama" to "Donald" (Glover) to "commas."
The freestyle begins at the 13:40 mark.
3. Sway in the Morning Freestyle
During a recent interview with Sway, Offset explained Migos' need to vibe to a beat immediately upon hearing it. "It's actually weird, man As soon as you play the beat, if we hear the beat too long, we ain't gonna do it," he says. Sway then selected three beats for the group to rap over and they they happily oblige. Lawrence Fishburne rolls into the studio at the 8:30 mark.
2. .WAV Radio Freestyle
This freestyle encapsulates the power of Migos' synergetic power: the three Migos completely transform an otherwise pedestrian Travis Scott freestyle by peppering in a furious flurry of ad-libs.
1. Fire in the Booth Freestyle
Though the first portion of Migos' freestyle for Charlie Sloth simply interpolates "Dab Daddy," things begin to heat up substantially when Takeoff takes a turn for the improvisational. Then Sloth throws on the Skepta "That's Not Me" beat, which results in the following interplay:
[Takeoff] I fuck with goddamn Pedro, and I know John Rico --
[Quavo] And I know Diego and I know Eduardo --
[Offset] Can't forget about Nino.