Migos Prep New LP: ‘Why Wouldn’t It Be Better Than the Beatles?’
UPDATE: Migos are streaming their debut album Yung Rich Nation on Pandora one week before its official release.
Migos, the trio who surged’s onto rap radio with 2013’s “Versace,” have had a hand in eight mixtapes over the past two years. They’ve collaborated with Justin Bieber, Usher and Drake, signed to Lyor Cohen’s 300 Entertainment and left their Atlanta launchpad for a mansion in the suburbs — the place where they recorded their first proper LP, the appropriately-titled Y.R.N.: Tha Album. This doesn’t mean they softened up. “Really nothing changed,” says 24-year-old Quavo, the group’s most senior member. “We made a studio in the closet so we can get the same bando feel. We couldn’t go back to the bando because the bando is really hot.”
Offset, Quavo’s cousin, says that Y.R.N. is “for the people that say we’re one-hit wonders.” The record, which is scheduled for June 16th release, will feature the triplet cadence that made songs like “Versace” so identifiable, but the rapping will be at once more nuanced and more accessible. “It’s the same flow but more advanced. Sometimes we’d do our flows and you couldn’t understand what we were saying. We made sure our words were clearer — it won’t make you have to think about what we said.”
The beats, meanwhile, will reach for a broader sound inspired by L.A. legends like N.W.A and feature production from California newcomer DJ Mustard. “Everybody’s expecting trap,” Quavo says. “We’re gonna switch it up, hit ’em with a lot of West Coast songs.”
“That shit was always hard,” adds Offset, referring in particular to the Dr. Dre-produced records of the late Eighties and early Nineties. “And they still talk about some gangsta shit, so that fit right in.”
On Y.R.N., the group made a pointed effort to expand its own subject matter. “We’ve got some off-brand records that have nothing to do with the trap,” Offset continues. “We’ve got songs for the women, songs for when you’re going through things.” His favorite is an “Independent”-style jam “about a pretty lady who has got money of her own.”
“We’re proving longevity and versatility,” he says. “And that we can actually sell records.”
This begs the question: Will the album justify the hype of a recent meme that proclaimed Migos better than the Beatles? “Why wouldn’t it be better than the Beatles?” asks Offset. “They’re legends, but we’re legends too now. Quavo was just saying he wanted to meet Paul McCartney, so nothing against them. But they saying we better, so it is what it is.”