Migos' grind to the top has been long like telethons. Yet here stands the Georgia trio—Quavo, Offset and Takeoff—hip-hop's biggest group wrapping up an epic year that began with the hit-packed Culture II and closed with the unveiling of their first solo albums (Quavo's Quavo Huncho and Takeoff's The Last Rocket). So it was only right that the Quality Control group grace XXL's Winter 2018 issue as a salute to solo excellence and kindred solidarity.

"We the biggest group in the world to ever exist," Offset tells XXL. "'Cause we can do individual and we can go as a group."

The story took place across several months. In August, Migos dropped in for a metallic, high-fashion clad photoshoot in Manhattan just before an Aubrey and the Three Migos tour stop at Madison Square Garden (with Drake). It picked up again in November during the tour's tail end in Miami. Backstage in AmericanAirlines Arena, Takeoff explained his intention of furthering his individual persona on his solo album.

"This first project I just wanted to give them me, so they feel like they know me," he says, explaining The Last Rocket's dearth of features. "I ain't really want no features on there just to show what I do."

Meanwhile, Quavo's mind was set on brotherhood. The day after the show, he discussed his kinship with Gucci Mane (who popped up as Migos' special guest the night before).

"Listening to [Gucci Mane's] music before we even met him, he was teaching us shit," Quavo says. "He was our big brother when we ain't have no big bros... Me and Takeoff used to be like, 'Man, I can't wait when I meet him. It's going to be automatically a great bond. We already kinda seen all this shit coming."

Get into the Migos state of mind in this snapshot of their life on and off the stage via the video above.

See Photos From Migos' XXL Winter 2018 Cover Story

More From XXL