Migos rapper Takeoff dead after Houston shooting
Houston, Nov 1: The rapper Takeoff, best known for his work with the Grammy-nominated trio Migos, is dead after a shooting early Tuesday outside a bowling alley in Houston, a representative confirmed. He was 28.
Kirsnick Khari Ball, known as Takeoff, was part of Migos along with Quavo and Offset. A representative for members of Migos who was not authorized to speak publicly confirmed the death to The Associated Press.
Police responded shortly after 2:30 am to reports of a shooting at 810 Billiards & Bowling, where dozens of people had gathered on a balcony outside of the third-floor bowling alley, police said. Officers discovered one man dead when they arrived.
Security guards who were in the area heard the shooting but did not see who did it, a police spokesperson said. Two other people were injured and taken to hospitals in private vehicles.
No arrests have been announced. Media members at the scene later Tuesday morning were being kept across the street, which was otherwise blocked off to the public.
Takeoff was the youngest member of Migos, the rap trio from suburban Atlanta that also featured his uncle Quavo and cousin Offset. They first broke through with the massive hit "Versace" in 2013. The song was remixed by Drake, heightening its popularity.
The group had four Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, though Takeoff was not on their multi-week No. 1 "Bad and Boujee," featuring Lil Uzi Vert. They put out a trilogy of albums called "Culture," "Culture II" and "Culture III," with the first two albums hitting No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart.
They also earned an ASCAP Vanguard Award in 2018, for their streaming success with multiplatinum songs like "Motorsport (featuring Cardi B and Nicki Minaj)," "Stir Fry," and "Walk It Talk It."
The trio also played a fictional version of themselves on an episode of the hit TV show "Atlanta," but the group wasn't currently together.
Offset, who is married to Cardi B, released a solo album in 2019, while Takeoff and Quavo released a joint album "Only Built for Infinity Links" last month.
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Prague (PTI): World champion D Gukesh survived some anxious moments in the early middle game before finally drawing with Hans Moke Niemann of the United States in the first round of the masters section of the Prague International Chess Festival here.
The Berlin defense that went wrong for white could be a perfect heading for the encounter between the world champion and Niemann, who is walking his way to the elite chess circles after being indirectly accused of foul play.
It may be recalled that the American infamously won a game against world number one Magnus Carlsen, which will now be documented in a forthcoming Netflix series.
ALSO READ: Cheating made bigger than it actually is: Gukesh
Niemann came all guns blazing and sacrificed a piece with black piece as early as on move 13 to put Gukesh on the back foot despite having the white pieces.
The Indian was down but not out which he proved as the game progressed, and even though, black seemed like pushing for more with his extra pawns in exchange for the sacrificed knight, Gukesh ensured that he stayed in the game.
The eventual outcome was a draw, the lone one in the 10-player, nine round tournament that saw everyone with white pieces triumph in contrasting styles.
Defending champion Aravindh Chithambaram of India turned out to be on the wrong side of a position against Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan.
The Philidor defense by the Indian generated enough evidence that every opening could be playable only till he walked into a deft manoeuvre.
Aravindh lost in the rook and minor piece endgame after losing one of his pawn, and if that was not enough top seeded Vincent Keymer of Germany was blown away by a resurgent Jorden van Foreest of The Netherlands.
It was another Berlin defense wherein Foreest came out with a new idea that perplexed Keymer. As the opening concluded, the Dutchman had an advantage and he picked up a handful of pawns to register a comprehensive victory.
Also ending on a winning note was Abdusattorov's name sake and teammate Nodirbek Yakubboev who put it across David Anton Gujjaro of Spain, while in the other encounter of the day local favourite Navara David proved stronger against Iranian Parham Maghsoodloo.
In the challengers section, women's world cup winner Divya Deshmukh drew with top seeded Benjamin Gledura of Hungary from a position of strength but Surya Shekhar Ganguly ended on the receiving end against Thomas Beerdsen of The Netherlands.
Results after round 1 Masters: D Gukesh (IND) drew with Hans Moke Niemann (USA); Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) beat Aravindh Chithambaram (IND); Jorden van Foreest (NED) beat Vincent Keymer (GER); David Navara (CZE) beat Parham Maghsoodloo (IRI); Nodirbek Yakubboev beat David Anton Guijarro (ESP).
Challengers: Divya Deshmukh (IND) drew with Benjamin Gledura (HUN); Surya Shekhar Ganguly (IND) lost to Thomas Beersden (NED); Zhu Jiner (CHN) lost to Jachym Nemec (CZE); Daniel Yuffa (ESP) lost to Stepen Hrbek (CZE); Jonas Buhl Bjerre (DEN) drew with Vaclav Finek (CZE).
