Kiari

About

The past few years have been trying for the former member of Migo, which officially disbanded in 2023 after the tragic death of Takeoff in 2022. But hardship has shaped Offset’s path from the beginning, going back to his incarceration during Migos’ big break in 2013. “With me personally, adversity made me focu,” the 33-year-old rapper tells Apple Music’s Ebro Darden. “I’ve learned to just brush it off.” His debut solo album, <i>FATHER OF 4</i>, arrived in 2019, but 2023’s <i>SET IT OFF</i> marked Offset’s first venture with Migos in the rearview. On his third solo album, the rapper born Kiari Cephus sets aside his alias to dig a little deeper. “I named my album <i>KIARI</i> because it’s like me looking at myself in the mirror—my real life, how far I’ve come and what I’ve done, the good and the bad, the mistake,” he tells Ebro. After seven years of marriage, Offset’s ex-wife, Cardi B, filed for divorce in August 2024. Through the drama, he sought solace in the booth. “I just wanted to focus on the music,” he tells Ebro. “And as soon as I did it, I seen the result.” The 18 tracks of <i>KIARI</i> show Offset at his most soul-searching, without sacrificing the technical precision he’s been known for since his scene-stealing turn on 2016’s “Bad and Boujee.” Moody samples add to the gravity, from the flip of Nina Simone’s “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” on “Pills” to “Bodies” with JID, which throws a curveball by interpolating Drowning Pool’s “Bodie.” (“I like the element of surprise on the record,” Offset told Ebro of the collaboration.) .

via Apple Music

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