OFFSET RECRUITS HIT-BOY FOR FIRST SONG SINCE TAKEOFF’S DEATH: LISTEN

Offset has linked up with Hit-Boy to release his first song since TakeOff’s death last November.

The lively club anthem, “2 Live,” serves as a direct contrast to Quavo’s somber solo track “Without You,” which he released last week. Offset’s bouncy track instead finds Hit-Boy rapping about his fun experience at the club, while the Migos member spits about a late-night love interest that “gets crazy.”

The new track arrives after Hit teased the collaboration on social media earlier this week as he looks to keep his hot streak from 2022 alive.

It also follows the producer’s recent announcement that he’s working on a joint album with R&B legend Musiq Soulchild called Victims & Villains, which is due out later this year.

“2 Live” will likely appear on Offset’s forthcoming solo album, which he delayed out of respect for TakeOff, who was shot and killed outside a bowling alley in Houston, Texas on November 1. It follows Set’s previously released singles “54321” and “CODE” featuring Moneybagg Yo.

The upcoming project will serve as the follow-up to his 2019 solo debut Father of 4, which debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200.

During an interview with SSENSE last August, Offset went into detail about what his still untitled LP sounds like, which he had previously confirmed on Twitter will clock in at 13 tracks.

“This is just the beginning,” he explained. “It’s just gutter and core, from the heart. I got a lot of different flows on it. I’m rapping, even though I see a lot of the artists nowadays, they like auto tuning. A lot. I feel like I’m not on that wave at all.

“When I came in, we came out the trenches, so that’s what people want to hear, because that’s what people go through every day. Ain’t nobody driving a Wraith.”

He added: “[In] Black culture right now, and the world in general, the poors outweigh the rich one thousand percent. So you gotta talk about shit that’s going on in real life. Just the real content of what people see every day. Go back to that.”

In regards to TakeOff’s passing, Offset delivered an emotional speech at the rapper’s funeral, which took place at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, and praised his late Migos collaborator for his contribution to rap music.

“Changed the culture of music forever, you did that Take,” Offset said while holding back tears. “You changed that flow. That flow came from Take, the originator. The originator of that flow. He changed the music.”

He continued: “Lord give us the strength, give us the strength, the family and everybody, give us the strength. I don’t want to question God, but I just don’t get it.”

Hit-Boy, meanwhile, was recently crowned HipHopDX’s Best Producer of 2022 thanks a standout year in which he dropped joint projects with Dreezy and Pacman Da Gunman while contributing to Beyoncé’s Renaissance, The Game’s Drillmatic and Ab-Soul’s Herbert, among other albums.

His crowning achievement, however, was King’s Disease III, his fourth collaboration with Nas in three years and arguably the finest installment in their Grammy-winning series.