The Hotel Lobby AI trend: a meme born in an orange booth
The Hotel Lobby trend is a wave of AI videos that recast Quavo and Takeoff’s 2022 A COLORS SHOW performance of “Hotel Lobby”: two new people, one orange wall and a single mic hanging between them. Since mid-September 2026 the Hotel Lobby AI trend has put cats, couples, grandparents and cartoon pairs at that mic on TikTok, X and Reels, and it roughly doubled the song’s weekly US streams.
Updated
Hotel Lobby AI trend timeline, with a source for each date
May 20, 2022
“Hotel Lobby” by Unc & Phew, the new duo of Quavo and his nephew Takeoff, comes out as their first single. Wikipedia
June 17, 2022
COLORS posts their A COLORS SHOW performance, opening a Black Music Month series with Motown. Every Hotel Lobby AI video copies this 2:46 clip. COLORS on YouTube
October 7, 2022
Only Built for Infinity Links, the duo’s only album, debuts at No. 7 on the Billboard 200. Wikipedia
November 1, 2022
Takeoff is shot and killed in Houston, aged 28. Wikipedia
June 25, 2023
Quavo and Offset perform the song at the BET Awards as a tribute to him. Wikipedia
September 15, 2026
The trend starts: TikTok user @glorify_studio posts the first known AI video edit, two Suits characters at the mic, which reaches 1.7 million views. Know Your Meme dates it September 16. Billboard
September 18, 2026
A cat version by @ogfeitoza spreads the Hotel Lobby AI trend across TikTok and X, with 7.7 million views. Billboard
September 23, 2026
Quavo reposts the untouched original as “The Original #HotelLobby”. The Source
September 18 to 24, 2026
US on-demand streams of the song reach 2.95 million in a week, up 101%, per Luminate. Billboard
September 27, 2026
Complex lists remakes made with apps such as Starrd, Summrs and CapCut, and notes fans who find the trend disrespectful. Complex
October 1, 2026
Victoria Monét and Quavo post a version filmed without AI, captioned “No AI”. Revolt via Yahoo
Four things every Hotel Lobby AI video copies
A wall of solid orange
A COLORS SHOW films each artist against one flat color. This episode got orange, the first thing people recognise.
A single mic from the ceiling
One silver mic hangs on its cable between the two performers, who lean in and take turns.
One raps, one hypes
One person carries the verse; the other sells it with faces, points and dance steps, then they swap.
A short, steady shot
The camera barely moves. Remakes trim the 2:46 original to a short loop, often vertical for phones.
Other names: Migos AI, Unc & Phew AI and more
People name the Hotel Lobby AI trend after the song, the group, the duo or the rapper they know.
- Hotel Lobby AI trend
- The name news coverage uses. Making a Hotel Lobby AI video of your own from two photos is on Hotel Lobby AI.
- Migos AI trend
- The duo were two of the three Migos, so many posts call it the Migos AI trend or the Migos challenge, although Offset is not on the song. See the Migos AI video generator.
- Unc & Phew AI
- From the duo name of Unc & Phew, Quavo and Takeoff, uncle and nephew. The family story: how Quavo and Takeoff were related.
- Quavo AI trend
- Some posts name it after the rapper holding the mic in the original clip.
- Hotel lobby ia, lobby do hotel
- Spanish, Portuguese and Italian spell AI as IA, hence hotel lobby ia; lobby do hotel is the Portuguese name.
- AI rap duo trend
- The broadest label, because the booth works for any pair of people: see AI rap duo.
- Hotel Lobby song trend
- Searches that start from the music. The Hotel Lobby song by Quavo and Takeoff tells its story without lyrics.
- Viral Migos AI videos
- The most shared clips on TikTok and X, from cats to horror icons, rounded up in viral Migos AI videos.
Clips from the Hotel Lobby trend, credited to their makers
Hotel Lobby AI clips by other creators and tools, not made with RapVideo. Tap a credit to open the original.
Watch
The Hotel Lobby trend on YouTube and X
Videos and posts from creators and other tools, each credited and linked to the original. Nothing loads from YouTube until you press play.
Make your own Hotel Lobby AI video in four steps
- Pick two people and one photo of each, or one photo of you both: clear faces, waist up or full length.
- Decide who leads: the left photo raps into the hanging mic, the right one hypes.
- Keep the Hotel Lobby stage and its track, or upload your own song. A 12-second 480p video is 6 credits on Wan 3.0; a failed render returns its credits.
- Download the MP4 and post it, in 9:16 for TikTok and Reels or 16:9 like the original. It has no watermark; label it as AI.
A word on respect, consent and credit
The Hotel Lobby trend has a sad backstory. Takeoff was killed less than five months after the performance went up, and some fans say AI copies of him feel like erasing him. Keep the joke about your own pair: use photos of people who agreed, never recreate the original artists or any real performer, and credit the original video. RapVideo is independent, with no tie to the artists, Migos, Quality Control, Motown or COLORS.
Questions people ask about the Hotel Lobby AI trend
Which track do the clips use?
“Hotel Lobby” by Unc & Phew, Quavo and Takeoff, from May 2022. Some people in the trend swap in their own song or an AI rap.
Where does the orange wall come from?
A COLORS SHOW films every artist against one color, and this episode used orange.
How long has the Hotel Lobby trend been around?
Since mid-September 2026, on TikTok and X. Billboard dates the first known edit to September 15.
Which steps get me a Hotel Lobby AI video?
Upload a photo of each person, pick who leads and render, then download the MP4 and post it. On RapVideo a 12-second 480p video is 6 credits, with no watermark.
Is any of this free?
Not here: there is no free video or trial. The smallest pack is 10 credits for $9.99, paid once with no subscription. Other apps set their own prices.
Do I need an app for the Hotel Lobby trend?
No. RapVideo runs in any phone browser, and we found no official app from the artists or COLORS.
Can I put someone else’s face in the booth?
Only with the permission of the people in the photos, never a minor without a guardian, and never a real person in a way that could mislead.
Read next
Hotel Lobby Trend: How to Do It in Minutes From Two Photos
Three ways to do the Hotel Lobby trend (two photos and AI, a CapCut template, filming it yourself), with steps, free options and posting tips.
Hotel Lobby Song by Quavo and Takeoff: What It Means
The story of the 2022 single: who made it, what it is about, the COLORS performance, the charts, Takeoff’s death and the 2026 AI trend, with sources and no lyrics.
Viral Migos AI Videos: Who Took the Mic in the Orange Booth
The viral Migos AI videos of the Hotel Lobby trend, from the first cat clip to horror icons and no-AI remakes, linked to the creators’ posts, with Quavo’s reply.