ATLANTA — The death of Migos rapper TakeOff has made a particularly heavy impact on the Atlanta community, where the group's inventive musical style inspired a younger generation of the area's hip hop fans and where people took pride in their amazing ascent.
One artist took to the BeltLine to pay tribute, saying he wanted to capture TakeOff's essence.
His work now appears on the trail in the Old Fourth Ward, and he hopes it will be something for the city to "truly appreciate."
"It was just something for Atlanta, it's part of the culture... I wanted to really capture his essence and give something that this city can honor and truly appreciate," said artist Armondo Monoletti.
The artist spoke to 11Alive Photojournalist Stephen Boissy about his inspiration for creating the mural after TakeOff's tragic death in a Houston shooting at just 28 years old.
"Something spoke to me," he said. "It's not about me, it's for TakeOff at the end of the day. It's for him, it's for his family."
A fan who was at the mural, Osmond Francis, told 11Alive the rapper's death has been "really tough on the city."
"I remember hearing the Migos first time in middle school, that was the first time I really fell in love with like the new sound of Atlanta," he said. "Because the Migos created a new sound of Atlanta, and with TakeOff's death it's like the end of an era really."
