QRÖMELIFE

The past few years have been heavy for <b>Quavo</b>, who lost his nephew and Migos groupmate, Takeoff, in 2022. The relationship between the trio had already been strained, with each member focusing on his own solo material and Quavo and Takeoff branching off for a joint album earlier that year. But with Takeoff’s tragic death, Migos effectively ended amid rumours of tension between Quavo and Offset. Quavo’s previous solo record, 2023’s <i>Rocket Power</i>, was a grief-stricken tribute to his late nephew. Three years later, the 35-year-old rapper is still grieving, but music has helped him to push through. His third solo effort, <i>QRÖMELIFE</i>, honours the process of healing through expression—a journey on which Pharrell served as not just an executive producer, but also a mentor. “I appreciate my big brother Pharrell for guiding me and pushing me creatively at a time when I needed it,” Quavo shared in a September statement. Fresh off Clipse’s 2025 comeback, the Louis Vuitton creative director holed up with Quavo in the studio to make every beat on the album. The result is the most upbeat and experimental record of Quavo’s solo career, bridging the gap between classic funk and Down South rap. He recruits <b>T.I.</b> for the nostalgic <b>“Backwards”</b>, a “Welcome to Atlanta” sequel for 2026, while <b>“HAOYU DEWDAT”</b> tags <b>Yung Miami</b> for an interpolation of Young Bleed’s 1998 No Limit sleeper hit. Quavo does his best James Brown impression on <b>“Hit-A-Lik”</b>, channels ’80s freestyle on <b>“Trance (Walk It Down)”</b> and joins forces with <b>Justin Timberlake</b> on the retro <b>“House Music”</b>, a synthwave ode to “music you buy houses with”. But <i>QRÖMELIFE</i>’s biggest moment is <b>“Away”</b>, a sonic sequel to 2017’s “Stir Fry”, Migos’ first collaboration with Pharrell. More importantly, it’s a reunion with <b>Offset</b>—the first time the two have shared a track since 2021. At a listening session in LA, Offset emerged to stand beside Quavo as the song played—a small but significant gesture for the long-estranged “cousins”. It’s a milestone that makes Quavo’s line on album closer <b>“Destined”</b> hit different: “Remember where it started/Forever Migo gang.”