Hotel Lobby Song by Quavo & Takeoff: The Story Behind the AI Trend
The story of "Hotel Lobby": who made it, the orange A COLORS SHOW performance, what the song is about, and how it became the 2026 AI trend.
Before it was an AI trend, "Hotel Lobby" was a song, and before it was a meme, it was one of the last performances Quavo and Takeoff made together. Here's the story behind the orange booth everyone is putting themselves into.
Who made "Hotel Lobby"?
"Hotel Lobby (Unc & Phew)" is by Quavo and Takeoff, two of the three members of Migos. Quavo is Takeoff's uncle, which is where the duo name comes from: Unc & Phew, uncle and nephew. That's also why people search for it as "Migos Hotel Lobby" and why the trend is sometimes called the Migos AI trend, even though Offset isn't on the song.
- Released: May 20, 2022, as the first single from their joint album Only Built for Infinity Links
- Producers: Murda Beatz, Keanu Beats and Fabio Aguilar
- Charts: No. 55 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 12 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
- Certifications: Platinum in the US, Gold in Brazil and France, Silver in the UK
The official music video, directed by Keemotion and Quavo, is a nod to the film Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, with the two in the desert and in a Las Vegas hotel.
The A COLORS SHOW performance
The version the trend copies isn't the music video. It's the A COLORS SHOW performance released in June 2022, about a month after the single: Quavo and Takeoff side by side in front of a bright orange backdrop, trading verses into two microphones. It has passed 100 million views on YouTube, and that orange room is now one of the most recognizable sets on the internet.
What is "Hotel Lobby" about?
It's a back-and-forth flex record. The two trade verses about success, money and the life they built together, and the chemistry of uncle and nephew finishing each other's lines is the point. That easy two-person energy is exactly what makes it work as a duo trend.
Takeoff
Takeoff was killed in Houston in November 2022, only months after the COLORS video. In June 2023, Quavo and Offset performed "Hotel Lobby" together at the BET Awards as a tribute to him. For many fans the COLORS clip is a way to remember him, which is why some feel uneasy seeing it turned into an AI gag.
How the Hotel Lobby AI trend started
In early September 2026 a clip of two cats "performing" Hotel Lobby took off on TikTok. Within days, AI face-swap versions followed: former presidents, Breaking Bad's Walter White and Jesse Pinkman, athletes, superheroes, pets and, mostly, ordinary friends and couples. On September 23, 2026, Quavo reposted the original COLORS performance on X, pointing the new audience back to where it started.
Make your own, respectfully
The kindest version of the trend is the one with you in it: you and your best friend, your partner or your sibling, not the original artists. Rap Duo AI puts the two of you on an orange Hotel Lobby stage rapping an original AI song, from two photos. Here's how to do the Hotel Lobby trend step by step.
Sources: Wikipedia, XXL, The Source.