(AllHipHop News) Some detractors may view Migos as just a group of Trap rappers from Atlanta that glorify wealth. However, the trio not only delivers chart-topping tunes, but they have also been associated with ongoing charity work and community support.
Additionally, the Migos members are now addressing the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on communities of color and economically disadvantaged individuals. Offset, Quavo, and Takeoff appeared on Vice TV’s Shelter in Place with Shane Smith interview series, and the Quality Control signees were asked about the impact of coronavirus.
.@OffsetYRN, @1YoungTakeoff, and @QuavoStuntin speak with @shanesmith30 about navigating the American healthcare system.
SHELTER IN PLACE, tonight at 10:30p. pic.twitter.com/8Lxaz6pobU
— VICE TV (@VICETV) May 28, 2020
“You know we got all this paper and we’re ‘successful’ and still family members in our family do not have or qualify for health insurance or they can’t get it,” said Offset. “And they’re already 50-years-old and already have a health issue that they have been dealing with for 10 years. It’s like, when you don’t have the resources and the funds, you’re just out of luck.”
The Father of 4 album creator continued, “That’s just what it is in real life. There’s not a lot of resources, a lot of folks don’t have money. I know so many people in my family and my friends’ family that don’t have health insurance. I try to pay upfront and that still don’t work. You have to go through different processes and you still might not be eligible for this one thing but you’re eligible for this other thing. And it leaves them to suffer or try to have a chance at survival that is so small.”
According to health studies, African-Americans make up more than half of all COVID-19 cases in the country and nearly 60% of deaths from the disease. Yet, African-Americans only represent about 13% of the American population.
Early data also showed that low-income neighborhoods in New York City – which is often referred to as the country’s epicenter of the pandemic – have been hit much harder by coronavirus than wealthy neighborhoods. Many of the hospitalizations in NYC were concentrated in the boroughs of Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. While upper-class areas of Manhattan experience fewer cases.
While we're waiting for a breakdown by race in NYC, this map tells a stark story. Coronavirus is hitting low-income communities of color extraordinarily hard: pic.twitter.com/ZSCT64MZoq
— Mark D. Levine (@MarkLevineNYC) April 3, 2020
During the conversation with Vice TV, Quavo spoke about his personal experiences of relatives choosing not to seek medical help in order to avoid burdening loved ones. The 29-year-old “I’m the One” performer shared how he lost his grandmother to cancer.
“Our culture, we become doctors ourselves. It’s like our culture really barely go to the doctor. That’s why sometimes you get the results that we get because we wait until it gets super-super-super-duper serious,” stated Quavo.
He added, “My grandmama actually passed to cancer like four years back just because of the fact that she didn’t tell us and did not want to scare us and put that fear in our heart that we were kind of losing her. And really we could have gotten her the best help in the world. And so it’s just it’s like that’s what we do. It’s a thing we do. It’s a thing we grew up on and it’s kind of like built into our bodies. And that’s just the way it is.”