Things got interesting on hip-hop Twitter this morning as many woke up to a new song from Trippie Redd and Drake called “Betrayal.” The song sees Drake stepping outside of his comfort zone on some unique hyperpop production, however, it was his bars that got all of the attention. At one point in the track, Drake takes a direct shot at Kanye West and Pusha T as he raps the line “All these fools I’m beefin’ that I barely know/ Forty-five, forty-four (burned out), let it go/ Ye ain’t changin’ shit, it’s set in stone.”
This bar was immediately picked up by fans, leading to quite a bit of virality on social media. Over the last few weeks, rumors have circulated surrounding the idea that Kanye might be delaying DONDA as a way to set up an album release showdown with Drake, who is set to drop Certified Lover Boy. Fans made this connection and assumed that Drake wrote this verse as a way to respond to all of the chatter.
If that wasn’t enough, Kanye broke the internet this afternoon by posting a screenshot of a group DM he apparently shares with Drake. Within the screenshot was a message saying “I live for this. I’ve been fucked with by nerd ass jock n****s like you my whole life. You will never recover. I promise you” with an image of the Joker attached. To make matters more interesting, Kanye had just added Pusha T to the conversation, which is pretty well a declaration of war.
Since posting this screenshot on Instagram, fans have been giving their thoughts and feelings on the whole debacle through social media platforms like Twitter. For instance, DJ Akademiks tweeted about the ordeal saying “Kanye adding Pusha T and Drake to a Group chat on iMessage like he forgot that … the last time he went off the deep end .. drake sent him there wit one emoji…” Andrew Barber was also amused by the whole thing as he referenced this upcoming Thursday’s DONDA event in Chicago: “Kanye going full Joker mode, Thursday night is gonna be wild.”
Some fans just want the beef to end, while others think Kanye is about to go off the deep end. It’s almost impossible for people to have a lukewarm take on the whole beef, and as both artists gear up to drop new albums, we could be in for a rollercoaster ride of emotions.