Music: from “Bad and Boujee” to “Straightenin”, return on the course of the American phenomenon Migos who leaves his third album

After “Culture I” in 2017 and “Culture II” a year later, the American rap group Migos returns in 2021 with a third opus, “Culture III”. 

The Atlanta trio have been among the top record sellers in the United States for over four years. Culture III , Migos’ third album, was released on Friday June 11, but the formula now seems blunt. Back on the journey of the Migos phenomenon.

Migos, ambassadors of the “trap”

After making a name for itself in 2013 with the single Versace,  in collaboration with superstar Drake, Migos came back into the limelight in October 2016 with the hit Bad and Boujee , which sold four million copies. The phenomenon was born and Migos’ first album, entitled  Culture , arrived in January 2017 with the single Tee Shirt .

The three rappers Quavo, Offset and Takeoff place their flow on modern and addictive instrumentals. They become the ambassadors of the “trap”, this trend of minimalist and hovering rap from the southern states. The style is recognizable among a thousand: a ternary and almost polyphonic flow, each verse from one of the rappers responding to the other, complementing each other, and embellished with numerous onomatopoeias. It has become the hallmark of the group.

A year later, Migos is at the top. The trio are everywhere, extremely rich, influential and are invited to the songs of pop stars: Katy Perry, Beyoncé, Justin Bieber, and of course the best of hip-hop. In January 2018, Culture II is released,  which will paradoxically be the beginning of the end. The album is too long, 24 tracks, quite indigestible, and Migos will make the event much less often thereafter.

A style that struggles to renew

If Culture 3  includes among others the title Straightenin , the album was not necessarily eagerly awaited by the community and connoisseurs. The new darlings of American rap are now called Lil Baby, Dababy, with veterans Travis Scott and Drake continuing to dominate the market.

If this third album should also sell well, in part thanks to the many guest stars present, the Migos style seems dated, old-fashioned, and therefore ends up running a little empty. 

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