Takeoff’s Streams Rocket 435% in Week After His Death, ‘Infinity Links’ Album Back in Top 15

The late Takeoff’s death on Nov. 1 sparked a surge of activity surrounding both his solo catalog and that of Migos, comprised of Takeoff, Quavo (his uncle) and Offset (his cousin).

The group’s song streams rallied 182.2% in the seven days after his death, while his solo material grew 434.9% in the same period, according to initial reports to Luminate. (The sums here include both official and user-generated content, the latter of which does not factor into Billboard’s charts.)

Among the chart impacts, Takeoff and Quavo’s collaborative album, Only Built for Infinity Links (released Oct. 7), rockets 84-12 on the all-genre Billboard 200 dated Nov. 12, in its fourth week on the list.

Takeoff, born Kirshnik Ball, was fatally shot on Nov. 1 in Houston at age 28. His death drew tributes from dozens of celebrities, including Beyoncé, Drake, Future, Cardi B and many other friends and musical collaborators.

Migos’ song catalog (defined as tracks where the group is the lead act) registered 56.6 million U.S. on-demand streams for Nov. 1-7, a 182.2% increase from the 20.1 million collected from Oct. 25-31. In addition, Takeoff’s solo material logged 46.4 million U.S. on-demand streams in the week after his death, compared with 8.7 million in the week prior, a swell of 434.9%.

For the latest chart tracking week, which ran Oct. 28 – Nov. 3, fans’ support through streaming in the latter half of the week leads to several gains across multiple charts. As mentioned, Only Built for Infinity Links, rallies 84-12 on the Billboard 200, with 23,000 equivalent album units, a 109% week-over-week upgrade. Streaming powers its rebound, with 32.1 million official streams of its songs in the week ending Nov. 3, up 110% from the prior week.

In addition to the Billboard 200 jump, Infinity Links leaps 40-6 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and 19-4 on the Top Rap Albums list.

Lead Links single “Hotel Lobby (Unc & Phew)” was the most streamed song of Takeoff’s solo offerings in the previous chart tracking week, with 7.5 million official U.S. streams (up 101% from the prior week). Three songs from the album — “Messy” (4.8 million, up 452%); “To the Bone,” featuring YoungBoy Never Broke Again, (4.2 million, up 41%); and “Nothing’s Changed” (3.2 million, up 78%) — were next in line, with the track “Last Memory,” from his 2018 solo effort, The Last Rocket, in fifth place, with 2.9 million clicks.

“Messy” debuts on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart at No. 43, aided by the release of its official music video on Oct. 31. “To the Bone” returned to Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs at No. 45, having reached a previous No. 24 best upon its debut three weeks ago.

Among Migos cuts, the most streamed tracks were the group’s most successful hits: “Bad and Boujee,” featuring Lil Uzi Vert, led with 3.7 million official streams (up 93%), followed by “Stir Fry” (3 million, up 85%), “Walk It Talk It,” featuring Drake (2.98 million, up 85%), and “Motorsport,” with Nicki Minaj and Cardi B (2.4 million, up 71%). The four songs are the full slate of Migos’ top 10 hits on the multi-metric, all-genre Billboard Hot 100 chart, with “Bad and Boujee” a standout as the group’s sole No. 1 with its three-week reign in 2017.