It began with the greatest moment in the history of American cinema, the "T-Shirt" video. That prompted a simple question heard 'round the office: Was this the best Migos song ever? On one hand, it obviously was, due to the fact that it was awesome and a Migos song and seriously did you hear Quavo's verse? On the other hand, isn't every Migos song the best Migos song? To settle this question, we asked more than two dozen VICE and Noisey staffers, friends, artists, DJs, and writers to weigh in on the most important question of our time. This is what they said:
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The Best Migos Song Is: "FEMA"
HURRICANE WRIST
HURRICANE WRIST
HURRICANE!
HURRICANE!
—Gregory "Beef" Jones, VICELAND producer
The Best Migos Song Is: "T-Shirt"
—Andrew Barber, owner and founder of Fake Shore DriveIt sounds like Christ's redeeming love.
—Alex Hancock, writerThe best Migos song is "T-Shirt" because, even though "Bad & Boujee" is the song on the world's radar right now, "T-Shirt" provided the cultural moment that shifted everything: five minutes of Quavo, Offset, and Takeoff dancing around a snowy cliffs in the forest among gigantic mountains. Name a more iconic five minutes. While you try to do that, I'll try to think of something else to write about how incredible this song is……………………………..OK both of these tasks have been proven impossible. "T-Shirt" is perfect.
—Eric Sundermann, Noisey Editor-in-ChiefChoosing the best Migos song is like choosing your favorite child… in that it's extremely easy. You pick the best looking. So, since "T-Shirt" is their best music video, that's what I'm going with. Also, speaking of children, I'm currently babysitting my infant niece, and when I asked what her favorite Migos song was she drooled on her shirt, which I took as confirmation. What's more, the song contains a very important message that I hope my sister imparts on her daughter: "Mama told me not to sell work". I'm not certain that the Migos heeded their mom's advice about not dealing drugs, but I hope my my niece does. My sister is going to hate that I wrote this.
—Zach Goldbaum, host of Noisey on VICELAND
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The Best Migos Song Is: "John Wick"
—Zack Fox, writer and artist
The Best Migos Song Is: "YRH" feat. Rich Homie Quan
—Topshelf Tyson, DJ
The Best Migos Song Is: "Cross the Country"
—The Kid Mero, host of "Desus and Mero" on VICELAND
The Best Migos Song Is: "Young Nigga" by Que feat. Sonny Digital
—Ty Howard, Fake Shore Drive staff writer/Shade 45 DJ
The Best Migos Song Is: "Dennis Rodman" feat. Gucci Mane
—Hanni El Khatib, musician
The Best Migos Song Is: "Trophies" (Remix)
2. This cover art.
3. Scientists say that this is the beat you hear as you strut into heaven.
4. I know it's cool to hate Drake now, but damn, listen to him on this.
5. "Man, this shit is not a love song"—Drake, every single song since this song came out.
6. "I'm celebrating with my family"—this is the modern day "Family Affair." 7. "I want a Grammy"
8. Quavo's verse on this short, but the entire thing is Instagram caption worthy.
9. "At the top right now I wanna order up a million bottles."
10. The fact that somehow Takeoff says every possible syllabic sound a human voice can make in the matter of three seconds.
11. "Tryna fuck me a Rihanna."—Takeoff is accepting of any and all possible Rihannas in the multiverse.
12. The fact that Takeoff says every word in the dictionary in two seconds at the end of his verse, but those words mashed together sound like "bricks in the kitchen."
13. This is one of Offset's first songs after he got out of jail in 2013. He sat dormant while Migos blew the fuck up in mid-2013, and then hit their songs ungodly hard till he was locked up again. Quavo and Takeoff basically clear the runway for Offset to go the fuck off on this. Without this, we don't get "Bitch I'm a dog, woof (grrrrr)."
14. "Got the Mac-11 call it macaroni"
15. "Sittin' at home I was contemplating, changing and switch up my situation, tryna see the bigger picture."
16. "No it ain't no money issue, grant all my momma's wishes."
17. Takeoff 2020
17.5. The beat riding out represents
—Andrew Winistorfer, Vinyl Me, Please Senior Editor
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The Best Migos Song Is: "Freestyle" feat. Young Thug
—Bauce Sauce, writer
The Best Migos Song Is: "Bando"
—Desus Nice, host of "Desus and Mero" on VICELANDDefinitely "Bando." Shit sounds like Yoshi's inner monologue.
—Alex Russell, writerThis is my favorite song to date because it was the first song that I discovered from the guys. I remember feeling something instantly when I pressed play. The production… I felt something. It sounded so vintage… so southern. It was on repeat my whole trip to SXSW that year.
—Diane "Shabazz" Varnie, founder of Electric Circus
The Best Migos Song Is: "Trouble"
—Jenna Wortham, New York Times Magazine staff writer
The Best Migos Song Is: "Birds"
—Trey Smith, VICE.com social producer"Birds" is obviously the Migos' greatest opus for several reasons. Firstly, the trap symphony begins with audio of a serene squandering of eagles, masterfully and abruptly interrupted by Stack Boy Twan's producer tag demanding he turn the beat down. He shall not; nor shall we. Then, Quavo gracefully soars in on the chorus, exhibiting early on his knack for melody and ability to craft infectious hooks. Thirdly, Quavo actually provides us with a full-on bird "trill" as one of the chorus' main ad-libs. I cannot recall either of the members of NSYNC ever giving us bird calls or sounds in ANY of their supposed hits. Lastly, the song is just hard as fuck, and it hit right after the Migos' wrist-generated hurricane hit land with "Versace" and their YRN tape, thus its timestamp will also be remembered. "Birds" is one of those sleeper hits that appreciates throughout an Artist's career, and to this day, it is still in rotation around these parts, in Dallas traps, college parties, nightclubs, and stripclubs.
—Mel of The Outfit, TX, rapper
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The Best Migos Song Is: "Fight Night"
—Kari Faux, rapperThis is a trick question because every song is the best Migos song. But if I have to pick one, it's gotta be "Fight Night." It's the song that gets me the most hyped up. It's got a killer beat, plenty of great quotables, and if I were a professional athlete, it would 100 percent be my walkup song.
—Leslie Horn, Noisey managing editor
The Best Migos Song Is: "Bad and Boujee"
—Cuz Lightyear, rapperMan, my favorite Migos song gotta be—I usually run away from hype, but it's the most turnt song right now: "Bad & Boujee." I just can't get over it—all the way from the beat, all the way to the verses, all the way to the hook, you know what I'm saying? That song doesn't get old. But also, me and Migos did a song called "Whippin' a Brick." We can go for days on Migos songs; they got hits for days. But "Bad & Boujee" is my shit. We've also got some stuff that the world don't know about yet but they gonna know about it real soon.
—Mike WiLL Made-It, producer
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I like the one with "drop top" in it.
—Kim Kelly, Noisey metal editorFor obvious reasons. DAT WAY!
—Sonyaé Elise, singerAs far as I'm concerned, every great Migos song redraws the lines of reality and recasts our understanding of the English language. Try to think about boxing now outside the context of "Fight Night." Tell me you can hear the word "bando"—which you probably didn't even know was a word pre-Migos—without repeating the hook to "Bando." And I have yet to take a trip to Chinatown in the post-"Chinatown" era without yelling the hook to that song or at least reminding everyone in the car with me that my plug look like Pacquiao, which I guess is an exception to the thinking about boxing point I made above but is still Migos related. In terms of songs that reimagined the world around us, the mellifluous tones of "Dennis Rodman" are certainly up there, but it seems unfair to say that the best Migos song is one that's carried so much by Gucci Mane and doesn't even feature Offset. Better to give Gucci the tip of the hat but leave the best moments to the Migos themselves, which is why "Slippery," although new, is the best Migos song. Quavo opens up his verse with the words "tater tot." Offset brags about giving a girl her first Patek Philippe, which is like a hundred thousand dollar watch, and courtesy of Takeoff there is yet another John Wick reference to add to the Migos pantheon. Not only have the group quietly improved a great deal since they began, but, as promised, I will never look at a wet floor sign the same way again. Believe me!
—Kyle Kramer, Noisey editorMy favorite song is "Look At My Dab" by Migos. The Migos introduced the world to a dance craze that revolutionized culture. For a moment, black and white people were united through a dance called "the dab."
—Rejje Snow, musicianMemoirs sticks out to me cause it's got some serious depth. It's not just a silly song. Plus one of the members phones in from prison for the intro—legit.
—Katie Monks, lead singer of Dilly Dally
—Kim Kelly, Noisey metal editorFor obvious reasons. DAT WAY!
—Sonyaé Elise, singer
The Best Migos Song Is: "Slippery"
—Kyle Kramer, Noisey editor
The Best Migos Song Is: "Look at My Dab"
—Rejje Snow, musician
The Best Migos Song Is: "Memoirs"
—Katie Monks, lead singer of Dilly Dally
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The Best Migos Song Is: "Cocoon"
—Andy Capper, producer of Noisey on VICELAND
The Best Migos Song Is: "RIP"
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There are many types of rap songs, but two of the best are paranoid illuminati dystopia burners and RIP tribute songs. Quavo is sitting in a hotel room reading his Bible, wiping down a dirty rifle, thinking about moving to Canada, but he knows they're still going to be watching him. It's not quite "Cell Therapy," but it's probably as close as we got in 2013. This is a tribute to both Pimp C and OG Double Dee of Freebandz. It functions in the same way as Gang Starr's "In Memory Of," another poignant overlooked elegy. Whether pouring out lean or liquor, Brooklyn or North Atlanta, the assault hits equally hard. Proof that Migos have always seen the future but revered the past. If they end up in Canada, I'm coming too.
—Jeff Weiss, writer and editor of Passion of the WeissQuavo tells the Taliban to wrap his drugs, effectively doing more to combat terrorism than Toby Keith has ever done in the 16 years after 9/11.
—Annalise Domenighini, Noisey social producer"Rich Then Famous" isn't so much a song as it is a mantra for greatness. It's the audio equivalent of the opening crawl of a Star Wars film that tells us over a grand score and trap drums the Migos' sole goal in their life and my own: to create a world full of "young rich niggas." And I don't give a damn if they used the wrong "than" in the title.
—Jabbari Weekes, Noisey Canada editor
—Jeff Weiss, writer and editor of Passion of the Weiss
The Best Migos Song Is: "Get Right Witcha"
—Annalise Domenighini, Noisey social producer
The Best Migos Song Is: "Rich Then Famous"
—Jabbari Weekes, Noisey Canada editor
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The Best Migos Song Is: "Adios"
—Lawrence Burney, Noisey staff writer
The Best Migos Song Is: "Hannah Montana"
—Dreezy, rapper
The Best Migos Song Is: "Sloppy Toppy"
—Phil Witmer, Noisey Canada staff writerIllustration by John Garrison. Check out more of his work here.Watch Migos in Noisey: Atlanta on VICELAND this Tuesday, February 7, at 10 PM EST.Follow Noisey on Twitter.