Joe Harker
American rapper Takeoff, real name Kirshnik Khari Ball, has died aged 28 after being shot in Houston, Texas.
Houston Police confirmed on social media that officers responded to a shooting on 1200 Polk St, explaining that one of the victims was found dead upon arrival.
They also reported that two other individuals had been taken to hospital in private vehicles and would provide an update on the identity of the victim once his family had been informed and his ID confirmed by the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences.
And it has since been confirmed by a representative for the rapper that the man who had been shot dead was indeed Takeoff.
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The rapper's fans took to his final post on Instagram to offer their condolences, with people saying it was 'sad to see you lose yo life' and telling him to 'rest in peace legend'.
Some lamented that it was 'crazy how life can be taken away so fast', while others begged it not to be true.
The 28-year-old rapper began his career in 2008 rapping alongside his uncle Quavo (Quavious Keyate Marshall) and cousin Offset (Kiari Kendrell Cephus), forming a group they named Polo Club.
The family trio would later change this name to Migos, which they have stuck with throughout the rest of their music careers.
They put themselves on the music map with the release of the song 'Versace' in 2013, a track which ended up being remixed by Drake.
Drake would go on to feature in their 2018 track 'Walk It Talk It', while 'MotorSport' featured appearances from Nicki Minaj and Cardi B, who married Offset in 2017.
Rapping alongside his uncle and his cousin, Takeoff launched the group's debut album 'Yung Rich Nation' in 2015 with guest appearances from Chris Brown and Young Thug.
A year later Migos scored their first hit number one single with the song 'Bad and Boujee', though Takeoff was only featured briefly in the music video for the song with the rapper saying he was busy at time of recording.
In 2017 the group launched 'Culture', their second album which reached number one in the charts and achieved platinum status.
A year later they released 'Culture II', which also opened at the number one spot on the Billboard 200, while last year they completed their trilogy of albums by releasing 'Culture III'.
The group also appeared on the first season of TV show Atlanta portraying fictional versions of themselves.