Only Built for Infinity Links
| Quavo & Takeoff
Only Built for Infinity Links
Only Built for Infinity Links is a collaborative studio album by American rappers Quavo and Takeoff. It was released on October 7, 2022, by Quality Control Music, Capitol Records, Motown Records, and YRN the Label. The album was preceded by four singles—"Hotel Lobby (Unc & Phew)", "Us vs. Them" with Gucci Mane, "Big Stunna" with Birdman, and "Nothing Change", and also includes features from Summer Walker, Young Thug, Gunna, YoungBoy Never Broke Again and Mustard. -Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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Pitchfork
The Migos members’ new collaboration is longer than it needs to be, but Quavo and Takeoff can make most scenarios sound exciting, whether life-changing or mundane.
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Slant Magazine
In the absence of Offset, Quavo and Takeoff still adhere to a strict hierarchy of talent: Predictably, the former remains at the top, singing the vast majority of the album’s hooks and leading nearly every song. Since he and Takeoff seem so averse to innovating the Migos sound or style, perhaps a more fitting title for the album would have been Culture 3.5.
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Hot New HipHop
At its best, Only Built For Infinity Links carves out a lane for Takeoff and Quavo that feels entirely separated from their decade-long work with Migos, and at its worst, you can hear the newfound duo’s growing pains from figuring out how to keep an Offset-less ensemble work interesting. Still, despite a mediocre stretch of songs in the middle of the album, Only Built For Infinity Links is a solid and ambitious debut from Quavo and Takeoff. It’s a testament to the Yin and Yang-like nature of their individual styles, and it will be intriguing to see where the duo goes from here.
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WhyNow
But Quavo and Takeoff do sound more focused and polished than their previous individual endeavours. ‘Two Infinity Links’ and ‘Us vs Them’ reinforce the comradeship between the two, and the production on this album shines throughout. Mustard’s use of trumpets in ‘See Bout It’ creates a triumphant anthem whilst a sleek guitar line backing ‘Hell Yeah’ compliments two superb verses which see the Migos duo flowing on top form.
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Clash Magazine
It’s not perfect, however. At times, ‘Only Built For Infinity Links’ leans too heavily on the past, and comes close to being simply Migos without Offset – as opposed to a project with its own taste and flavours. At its best, though, the record more than justifies the excitement – the post-Migos landscape is looking very inviting indeed.
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Ratings Game Music
Honestly, I just wish everything hit a little harder. I wish the content hit a little harder, the beats hit a little harder, the melodies hit a little harder, and the deliveries hit a little harder. I don’t think Quavo and Takeoff sold us short, I just feel like the album is missing the pizazz that Migos’ albums usually have.
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HipHop DX
Literally speaking, Unc & Phew aren’t Migos, but Quavo and Takeoff’s innovative instincts remain. That’s a notion Quavo affirms himself on the album opener. Coasting over the imperial funk of “2 Infinity Links,” he asserts the power of a creation forged in family. “An Infinity link, see that’s the strongest link in the world,” he says. “It runs in the blood.” Offset or no Offset, Quavo and Takeoff’s stylistic DNA holds steady. It’s home-grown. It’s theirs, and it’s as potent as ever.
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The Young Folks
Only Built For Infinity Links has no outstanding lyrical or stylistic revelation compared to other records from the Atlanta outlet, it’s just a lesser extension of the Migos brand. The duo want to brag that they can’t be stopped, but it’s more likely that they’re afraid to stop and lose their place in the rap world. If one link in the chain breaks, it can’t be built to last.
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Legends Will Never Die
As for Only Built for Infinity Links, it’s a solid debut from Unc & Phew. Both Quavo & Takeoff manage to take it back to the basics are some more interesting ideas with the production this time around. Here’s to Blame It on Set next month!
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Commedia
“Only Built For Infinity Links” has many notable songs filled with great lines that are likely to chart while giving fans a familiar Migos vibe which is long overdue. While audiences would most likely still like to see Migos back together in the future, this album fills the void since Culture III.
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Medium
Only Built For Infinity Links is a project filled with high-energy flows and hooks from Quavo and Takeoff and their adlibs are paired with their verses excellently as expected. The combination of the two makes for some pretty humorous lines at times which are capitalized on by their “Huh?” adlibs. The variety of sounds from the project keeps it from getting boring sonically even though the subject matter mostly stays in the lane we know the duo for. Still, for those who wanted to know what they would sound like as a duo this project answers that question: They sound good and their chemistry is good but they aren’t spectacular.
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Ben's Beat
Overall, the novelty of being able to hear a project from two out of the three Migos delivered some quality tracks, as well as a big helping of everything you already knew to expect. If the duo is truly set on continuing into the future together, they’ll likely do the same thing every couple of years – and that’s OK in my book.
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It's Just a Point of View
Even though this LP is by no means a concept album, I was hoping for an ending track that felt like a true culmination of the duo’s debut together, but you could easily have placed “Tools” anywhere else in the track-list and it would be just as effective, or ineffective. “Tools” is another braggadocios cut that Quavo and Takeoff share their affinity for money on; it does not stray from the pair’s musical formula in any aspect though.
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Ground
Only Built For Infinity Links is just as bombastic as its title, 18 songs and roughly an hour of music.... many different concepts presented.
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