“Fair Trade” by Drake (ft. Travis Scott)
The title of this song (“Fair Trade”), as revealed in the chorus, features Drizzy opting to exchange friendships for peace. Or viewed from a different angle, certain associates are stressing him out. So now he has reached a point in life where he would rather terminate such associations than perpetuate them to his own chagrin. Or as termed, he considers it a “fair trade” to ‘lose friends’ but ‘find peace’ instead.
And the clearest example of what Drizzy is talking about is found during the first half of the second verse. Drake, most simply put, is a well-known womanizer – an A list rapper who accordingly is afforded the romance of many desirable women.
Some of those women are known for being pretty wild themselves, i.e. the likes of social media stars or what have you. And basically, what Drizzy is telling such individuals is that if the two of them start to date, then said female would have to cast aside her promiscuous ways. Or put into hip-hop terms, he’s not going to allow himself to fall in love with a ho.
And the same goes for ‘busy bodies’, i.e. romantic interests who pry into his personal matters and then gossip, the types whom, by the way, he also expresses disdain for at the beginning of the first verse.
Travis Scott
Meanwhile Travis Scott’s verse, after putting the listener through a bit of fluff, deals with the same topic, i.e. sheisty associates. And his disposition is the same as Drake’s, with Travis also opting to “bury… fake friends” as opposed to allowing them to depress him. And later down the line, it is sorta implied that he has become so due to being stabbed in the back by homeys that Scott helped out but rather repaid his kindness with griminess.
All in all
Then concerning the intro, bridge and outro, those segments consist primarily of samples derived from a song entitled Mountains (2019). And fundamentally what is being put forth in these segments, as with the piece in its entirety, is an idea like the vocalists being the victim of less-than-ideal friends.
But conclusively Drake and Travis obviously aren’t the types to let such gossipers, rivals, girlfriends, etc., even if their actions may prove to a degree disturbing, get them bent out of shape. Instead, they would rather just cut them off and call it a day.
Facts about “Fair Trade”
This song came out with the rest of the album it’s featured on, Drake’s “Certified Lover Boy, on the date of 3 September 2021. However”, fans were introduced to it, in snippet form, a few months prior, at the end of May.
Drake and Travis Scott, both of whom currently rank amongst the top rappers in the game, have accordingly been on a number of tracks together to date, dating back to Drake’s 2015 tune Company.
This song was put out by Republic Records and OVO Sound, the latter being the label the mega-successful Drake himself founded back in 2012.
There is an extensive composition team behind this tune, largely due “Fair Trade” featuring a sample, as mentioned above. Said sample is of a 2019 track entitled Mountains by Charlotte Day Wilson, a singer who, like Drizzy, is based in Toronto. And as a result all of that, the writers of that song are also acknowledged as such on “Fair Trade”.
The aforementioned songwriters are as follows:
- Babyface
- Charlotte D. Wilson
- D’Mile
- Mk.gee
- Teo Halm
- Marcus Reddick
- Brandon Banks
- Varren Wade
- Kyla Moscovich
Then there are the artists who served as both writers and producers of “Fair Trade”, who are Travis Scott, WondaGurl, Jahaan Sweet, Oz and Patron. And finally Drake, of course, is also credited as an author of the song.
