The Rev. Jesse Curney, III, senior pastor of New Mercies Christian Church in Lilburn, Ga., remembered the popular Migos rapper Takeoff as a faithful member of the church, as plans are underway to celebrate the beloved rapper’s life with a elaborate public funeral at Atlanta’s State Farm Arena on Friday.
Tickets for the event, free to Georgia residents, are expected to be available to the general public online at 2 pm Tuesday. The arena has a seating capacity of approximately 17,000.
The 28-year-old, whose legal name was Kirshnik Khari Ball, was the youngest member of Migos, rounded out by his uncle Quavo and cousin Offset. Migos are well known for hit songs like “Motorsport” featuring Nicki Minaj and Cardi B and “Bad and Boujee” featuring Lil Uzi Vert, which have been streamed more than 1.5 billion times in the United States alone.
Curney, who is expected to deliver Takeoff’s eulogy on Friday, was not immediately available to answer questions when contacted by The Christian Post on Tuesday. But he told V-103 in an interview Monday that the rapper “loved to come worship.”
“I plan to remember him as the young man I saw growing up in church who loved being with his family, who loved going to worship, and in the moments when he came to church with his busy schedule, he kept coming as a simple worshiper. fair,” Curney said. “[He was] one who showed love to his fans while at church after church. Everyone allowed him to worship and be a normal person.”
Migos was started by Takeoff with his family members in 2008 in Lawrenceville, Georgia. They became bona fide stars in 2013 after the release of their song “Versace.”
New York-based hip-hop DJ Megan Ryte told ABC News that many new artists in the music industry were “influenced” by the Migos sound.
“They changed the game,” Ryte said. “They single-handedly changed hip-hop, its flow, the triplet flow… some people will refer to it as the Migos flow or even sometimes the ‘Versace’ flow.”
The group’s reach was so wide that former President Barack Obama put the song “Straightenin” from his album “Culture III” on his summer 2021 playlist alongside songs by other artists including Rihanna, Joni Mitchell and Stevie Wonder, reported The New York Times.
Houston police are still trying to piece together the events that led to Takeoff’s death, which began with a game of dice.
Anonymous law enforcement sources told TMZ that angry words were exchanged between Quavo and others after he lost in a game of dice at a bowling alley. After the discussion was carried outside, sources say the discussion shifted to who was better at basketball. The argument reportedly led to shots being fired and Takeoff’s death.
Curney, who said the rapper and his family had been attending his church since he was 10 years old, called on members of the black community to do better.
“It’s a huge loss, and it’s sad that we as African-Americans continue to do this to ourselves. And so I hope this is a wake-up call to all of us that there really must be something serious going on.” changes within our community,” she said.
“I think that’s what’s so important to me and most of his family. [is] that this was a son, a grandson, a brother, a nephew, a cousin,” he added. “And so, therefore [we want] to remember his love that he shared with everyone. He gave to everyone. That’s the person I know, and that’s the person I can talk about.”
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