Takeoff‘s shooting death shocked the world, but especially his hometown of Atlanta, where a graffiti artist was moved to honor the Migos rapper with a mural … in little more than an instant.
TMZ Hip Hop spoke with Armondo Monoletti, the artist who painted Takeoff’s likeness underneath the John Lewis Freedom Parkway bridge near downtown ATL.
Armondo says he couldn’t sleep after hearing the Takeoff news and vigorously painted throughout the night … using only the few paint cans he had in his arsenal, as all the stores were closed at the time.
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Migos Rapper Takeoff Dead at 28, Shot in Houston
He says he intentionally painted Takeoff without his signature sunglasses in order to humanize him, and he also wanted to show him smiling … so fans could escape the grim reality surrounding his death.
Armondo — whose “APE” graffiti tag stands for “Armondo Paints Everything” — actually painted over the DMX mural he created back in 2021 to create the Takeoff tribute.
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He says there was no disrespect intended — just like he’s done for Takeoff, he had painted the X tribute immediately after his passing.
As we reported Thursday … Quavo‘s assistant Joshua “Wash” Washington was also shot at the scene with non-life-threatening injuries and police have ID’d at least one person of interest in the case.