Offset Talks Going Solo & Takeoff’s Passing With GQ

Offset recently sat down with GQ to talk about his decision to go solo, the loss of his former bandmate Takeoff, and more for the annual “Men of the Year” issue.

Source: Julius Frazer / GQ

In the past 24 months, everything in Offset’s career has been flipped upside down. In June of 2021, he was with the Migos, who had just released Culture III. Everything seemed to be copacetic but over the next few months, fan questions would arise amid Offset unfollowing Takeoff and Quavo on Instagram. His former group mates would go on to start their own group, while Offset prepared to go solo.

And while that sounds like a sad story arc, it’s apparently something Offset believed in, wanted, and knew would work per Offset himself.

The artist recently chatted with it down for GQ’s “Men of the Year” issue.

Surprisingly, he credits Tyler, the Creator for the push to step out on his own, a smart move considering that Tyler had that same journey after departing from the group Odd Future.

“It was a year ago, at the Roc Nation Brunch, and I was telling [Tyler] my vision of being a standout artist and a solo artist and reinventing myself. I was glorifying him, telling him, ‘I respect how you stay in character [for each album],’” Offset tells GQ. “He was like, ‘You should do it, too. N***s ain’t going to f**k with it at first, but n****s never f**k with the good s**t first. They always sleep on it, and then you show them throughout the process.’” He adds: “I really took that shit to head.”

In the profile, Offset once again tries to find the words to describe losing his Migos groupmate Takeoff. While admitting that it’s a sensitive subject he shared that Takeoff’s death impacted his approach to making his Set It Off album

“I ain’t ready to talk about that s**t yet, first and foremost,” he says, admitting he doesn’t have the answers yet. “I don’t know how to do it, but I didn’t want to just be making an album about bad s**t, and dissing and putting that type of energy on the project, because it was going to make my mind be in a different place mentally.”

He adds that he tried to make a song that dealt with the tragedy directly, a tribute.

“The world is not ready for it, because [everyone] is so judgmental,” he explains. “They want you to make a song pouring your heart out that’s [also] a hit. There is a song on there that’s kind of expressing that s**t, though, which is ‘Upside Down.’ It’s feeling confident I’m going to go up with the music, but I’m down every day. It’s the challenge of trying to be the best at your worst times.”

Where Set goes from here is yet to be seen, but his second solo album was well-received, and his options are endless.

Check out Offset’s full GQ cover story here.