Hotel Lobby Song: Quavo, Takeoff and the AI Trend
Explore the Hotel Lobby song by Quavo and Takeoff, its music video and orange COLORS performance, and the story behind the AI trend.
"Hotel Lobby" is a 2022 single by Quavo and Takeoff, the uncle and nephew who recorded together as Unc & Phew. If you found it through the 2026 AI trend, the clip you keep seeing copies one specific video: the two of them sharing a single hanging microphone in an empty orange room. That is their COLORS performance, and it is worth watching before any of the remakes.
Who Made Hotel Lobby?
The official title is "Hotel Lobby (Unc & Phew)", credited to Quavo and Takeoff of Migos. Quavo is Takeoff's uncle, and our guide to Quavo and Takeoff's relationship covers the family and Migos history.
The song was released on May 20, 2022, as the lead single from their joint album Only Built for Infinity Links, which followed on October 7, 2022. It was produced by Murda Beatz, Keanu Beats and Fabio Aguilar, according to the song's reference page.
The Billboard peaks recorded on that page are No. 55 on the Hot 100 and No. 12 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. The RIAA certified it Platinum on November 30, 2022; certification units include streams, so that is not a pure sales figure. In the UK it reached No. 64 on the Official Video Streaming Chart, a chart for video streams rather than the main singles chart.
The official music video came out the same day as the single. Directed by Keemotion and Quavo, it nods to Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas with desert and Las Vegas imagery. It looks nothing like the orange room, so if you are hunting for the trend's source, the official video is a different piece.
The A COLORS SHOW Performance
COLORS premiered the performance on June 17, 2022, as part of a Black Music Month series with Motown. The set is almost nothing: orange walls, Quavo and Takeoff, and one microphone hanging between them.
With no band, props or cutaways, all the attention goes to timing and to how the two of them share space. The flat orange also reads instantly on a phone screen, which helps explain why the image was so easy to recognise, and later to imitate.
The video had over 123 million views on YouTube as of October 1, 2026.
What Is Hotel Lobby About?
At heart, it is a victory lap. The song celebrates success and the lifestyle that comes with it: money, travel and the comfort of having made it, delivered over a bouncing trap beat.
What makes it stick is the format more than the subject. Uncle and nephew take turns, so the record plays like a conversation between two people who already know each other's rhythm. That back-and-forth, not any single line, is what the COLORS clip shows so clearly and what the AI remakes try to borrow.
Remembering Takeoff
Takeoff died on November 1, 2022, in Houston, at 28, as AP reported. The COLORS performance had premiered less than five months earlier, which gives it a weight it did not have on release day.
On June 25, 2023, Quavo and Offset honored him at the BET Awards. That tribute is a separate performance from the 2022 orange-room session; you can watch the BET Awards 2023 tribute on BET's channel.
The memorial context shapes how people see the 2026 trend. Reporting by The Source describes mixed reactions: some fans found the edits fun and a way to bring new viewers to the original, while others felt uncomfortable seeing a late artist's performance turned into a meme.
How the Hotel Lobby AI Trend Started
Here is the timeline as it has been reported:
- June 17, 2022: COLORS premieres the original performance.
- Early September 2026: XXL points to a TikTok version featuring two cats as an early example, while noting that the trend's exact origin is unclear.
- September 23, 2026: XXL reports that celebrity and animal versions are spreading, and that Quavo has reposted the original performance.
- September 24, 2026: The Source covers Quavo bringing fans back to the original as the edits keep circulating.
The remakes place two new faces, pets or famous people into that orange room. The reporting above does not confirm a first video, so treat any claim about where it all began with caution.
Make Your Own Version Respectfully
Use photos of friends who have agreed to be in the video (a minor needs a parent or guardian's consent), and keep it about the two of you. Do not caption or frame your clip in a way that suggests Quavo, Takeoff, Offset or COLORS made it or endorse it. If you mention the inspiration, link to the original performance. AI Rap Duo is not affiliated with or endorsed by Quavo, Takeoff, Offset, COLORS or their labels.
AI Rap Duo turns your photos into a short two-person video with new, original rap audio; it does not use the Hotel Lobby song or the artists' voices. When you are ready, make your Hotel Lobby video. For the full walkthrough, read how to do the Hotel Lobby trend.