Thousands of fans on Friday gathered at the funeral of Takeoff, a rapper and member of the hip-hop trio Migos, in rainy downtown Atlanta, near where the deceased grew up.
According to Mailonline News, State Farm Arena, home of the Atlanta Hawks, hosted a memorial service to celebrate the rapper’s life and music, and a massive sign outside the arena was lit up with the rapper’s image.
Takeoff, whose real name was Kirsnick Khari Ball, aged 28, was shot and killed earlier in November outside a Houston bowling alley.
A program for the funeral showed an order of events including various musical performances, prayers, montages and more.
Chloe Bailey performed a song by Beyonce, while the Mayor of Atlanta, Andre Dickens, honored the rapper with a civilian award.
Migos was founded by Takeoff in 2008 with his uncle Quavo and cousin Offset, married to Cardi B.
Migos’ record label, Quality Control, mourned Takeoff’s death in a statement posted on Instagram that attributed the late rapper’s killing to a ‘senseless violence and a stray bullet.’
Instead of flowers or gifts, Takeoff’s family asked that people make donations to The Rocket Foundation, which was established in Takeoff’s honour and aims to prevent gun violence.
