“Betrayal” by Trippie Redd (ft. Drake)

It’s only really Drake, in his own verse, who sticks to the established topic of “betrayal”. And basically, what he’s saying is that incidences of being stabbed in the back are common occurrences, “too many to count” even, in his life. 

It is also the stress related to such which is likely why both he and Trippie Redd advocate the use of not only “Mary Jane”, i.e. marijuana but also Novocain. The latter is an anesthetic used for instance during painful dental procedures. 

But it isn’t likely that they’re talking about ingesting Novocain, as it isn’t a drug that people take recreationally. Rather, what they would be speaking to, symbolically, is a desire to quell the emotional pain in their lives, as alluded to above.

But most of the rap overall can be said to point to the exact type of braggadocio one would expect from a combination of these rappers, with a special emphasis, on the part of Trippie Redd, on gun violence. He also makes quite a few videogame-related references in his verse, which is also the motif the official visualizer to this song is based on.

But all of that noted, the part of Betrayal that has been generating the most headlines upon its release is a couple of lines Drake drops later in the second verse. He uses the opportunity to throw lyrical jabs at some dudes who have also been “beefing” with him. 

Who exactly is Drake attacking on “Betrayal”?

The identity of these individuals is never revealed. But Drake alludes to them being “burned out” middle-agers, more specifically in their mid-40s. And to note Pusha T, who Drake has had direct beef with, is “44” at this time. So is his label boss, Kanye West, who Drizzy has been having this escalated back and forth as of late that has really been going on for a few years now. 

So at this point, it seems almost inevitable that he and Yeezy will continue to go at it into the foreseeable future. And perhaps, tying into the titular topic, Drake also feels betrayed by the likes of Kanye and Pusha T.

Drake and Trippie Redd

This is the first collaboration between Ohio’s Trippie Redd and Toronto’s Drake. The latter, as you likely already know, is one of the most commercially-successful rappers and musicians overall in industry history. 

And even though Trippie Redd, with a discography dating back to 2016, is a more recent addition to the hip-hop scene, he is also at the time one of the more popular rappers. For instance, his last full-length project, a 2019 mixtape entitled “A Love Letter to You 4”, topped the Billboard 200.

Facts about “Betrayal”

A few months before the release of this track, one of Trippie Redd’s contemporaries, Yung Bleu, alleged that Trippie started acting differently towards him. According to him, Trippie was jealous, over Bleu’s own late-2020 Drizzy collaboration entitled “You’re Mines Still”. 

This was reportedly because Trippie was feening to have a Drake collaboration of his own. However, such a disposition is understandable considering the fact that Redd was actually slated to be featured on Drake’s 2018 single “God’s Plan“, which ended up earning RIAA-diamond certification and then some. But reportedly he was unable to do so.

“Betrayal” was officially released on 21 August 2021. It is a part of Redd’s project, Trip at Knight (2021). However, to note, the song was initially not a part of the album. It was officially made public the day after the rest of the album was released. It appears on what is being referred to as the project’s Complete Edition.

Two labels are behind this song. The first is TenThousand Projects. The other is Trippie’s own 1400 Entertainment.

The two vocalists are the credited writers of “Betrayal” as are its producers:

• Dynox
• PinkGrillz88
• Taz Taylor

Was this released as single?

As of the release date of “Trip at Knight”, only the following songs were official singles:

• “Holy Smokes”
• “Miss the Rage”