Trip at Knight
Trip at Knight is the fourth studio album by American rapper Trippie Redd. It was released on 20 August 2021, through 1400 Entertainment and 10K Projects. The project serves as a spin-off to the rapper's debut studio album Life's a Trip. The album features guest appearances from SoFaygo, Drake, Lil Uzi Vert, Playboi Carti, Ski Mask the Slump God, Polo G, Lil Durk, Babyface Ray, Sada Baby, and Icewear Vezzo alongside late rappers Juice Wrld and XXXTentacion. Production was primarily handled by Star Boy, Nadddot, tnfdemon, Loesoe, Cashmere Cat, and Young Cutta, among others.
Trip at Knight sees Trippie Redd explore new musical genres including rage and hyperpop. One critic wrote that "the fluorescent toned digital production taps into his web-focussed roots, while the emphatic beats reflect his arena-ready position". The album was supported by two singles: "Miss the Rage" and the "Holy Smokes". Trippie Redd embarked on a tour in support of the album just days after its release. The record project was a commercial success, debuting at number two on the US Billboard 200 chart. It was also well-received by critics and is regarded as a pioneering rage album. On November 9, 2022, Trip at Knight was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Background
Trip At Knight is Trippie Redd's second release of 2021, following Neon Shark vs Pegasus, a deluxe reissue of Pegasus made in collaboration with American punk rock drummer Travis Barker. The project serves as a spin-off to the rapper's debut studio album Life's a Trip. The album was originally announced in an August 2020 comment section of an Instagram post. Further announcements were made throughout 2020. In November 2020, Redd claimed that the album would have no features except for Chris King, with whom he had previously collaborated on songs including "Love Scars Pt. 2/Rack City" and "Can You Rap Like Me, Pt. 2", but later backtracked on those comments. Redd revealed the album's cover art on June 24, 2021, followed by its tracklist on August 11, 2021. On the same day, he confirmed that the project would release on August 20, 2021. The project then released on this date.Songs
Tracks 1–5
The album opens with the song "Molly Hearts". Initially, fans believed that the track was to be called "Molly Water" due to Redd previewing the lyrics "So much water on me just like a levee / Molly heart, molly water, water / Molly heart, molly water, water ". When Redd revealed the track list on 11 August 2021, the title was listed as "Molly Heart". However, the song appeared on streaming services as "Molly Hearts". Identified as an early highlight on the album, the song was recognised as " out the sonic palette for the album as a whole". Lyrically, Redd references several characters and locations from video games, movies, and television shows. The line "Yeah, she put her own molly in her water, n***a, I ain't Rick Ross" directly refers to a line rapped by Ross on rapper Rocko's March 2013 song "U.O.E.N.O.": "Put molly all in her champagne / She ain't even know it / I took her home and I enjoyed that / She ain't even know it." Ross had been dropped as a spokesman for Reebok by the company after controversy. The album's second song, "MP5", is named after the Heckler & Koch MP5, a submachine gun in the Call of Duty video game series. The song was initially intended to feature Tyga but he was replaced by SoFaygo. This marked the first collaboration between Trippie Redd and SoFaygo. "MP5", whose instrumental is a "synth-heavy" rage beat, was commended as a standout from Trip at Knight. The song's music video was released on 20 August 2021 and depicts Redd and SoFaygo killing zombies. Critics noted similarities between the music video and the music video for Redd's "Dark Knight Dummo".The third track, "Betrayal", was originally listed by Trippie Redd as part of the track-list, yet the song was not part of the album upon its initial release. However, "Betrayal" was later released in the complete edition of Trip at Knight on 21 August 2021. This song marked the first ever collaboration between Redd and Drake; the two had been set to collaborate on Drake's song "God's Plan" but Redd had missed the deadline to send in his verse. Before the release of "Betrayal", there had been speculation that Redd was going to appear on Drake's next album Certified Lover Boy. Lyrically, Redd references several cultural elements including video game character Liu Kang and fast casual restaurant Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers. In his verse, Drake disses Kanye West, reigniting their feud. Drake raps: "All these fools I'm beefin' that I barely know / 45, 44, let it go / Ye ain't changin' sh*t for me, it's set in stone". On the same day as the song's release, West shared what seemed to be Drake's Toronto address in an Instagram post that he later deleted. The fourth track, "Finish Line", sees Redd detail his sexual experiences with a woman. The song was first previewed through Redd's Instagram story in February 2020, and then again in an Instagram post in early March 2020. Clash described the song as an "early high". The next song, "Holy Smokes", serves as the album's second single. It is Redd's first collaboration with Lil Uzi Vert; Redd had selected the rapper for the feature after requests from his fans. Lyrically, Redd sings about his wealth but how this cannot buy him love. Complex described the song as sounding like "the soundtrack for a tripped-out crusade to find Excalibur". HipHopDX stated that it was one of the stronger songs on the album, writing that the duo "shine together on the hook" and lauding their chemistry. The music video was released on 20 July 2021. It features a cameo from Adin Ross as a newscaster and was well-received by critics.
Tracks 6–10
In Review wrote that Trip at Knight sixth song, "Super Cell", "is constructed around a basic premise: how many Dragon Ball Z references can one man cram into a less than three-minute song? Apparently, a lot, as Trippie is "invincible" like the Legendary Super Saiyan Broly, is eating well like that "fat n***a" Majin Buu, is going to "hit the fusion dance" like Trunks and Goten, and even finds time to rhyme "Piccolo" with "pick a loaf"." Redd initially previewed the song in a now-deleted Instagram post on 1 June 2021. Before its release, the song became popular on TikTok. When Redd revealed the track list for the project, the title was listed as "Supercell". However, the song appeared on streaming services as "Super Cell". The seventh song and lead single, "Miss the Rage", is a collaboration with Playboi Carti. It peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Redd's highest-charting song on the chart. Redd originally teased the track on Instagram in December 2020. Later, an edit of the song containing Playboi Carti's vocals from "Want To" – his leaked collaboration with the late Juice Wrld – atop the song's beat went viral on TikTok. The popularity of the edit led to Redd asking Carti to collaborate on "Miss the Rage". In February 2021, Redd's intention of featuring Carti on the song became public after a screenshot of a groupchat was leaked. Redd then confirmed Carti's involvement one month later by sharing a screenshot of their chat in a since-deleted Instagram post. The cover art and release date were revealed on 3 May 2021, and the music video was released on 27 May 2021. The song's title also became a motto on Redd's social media posts. The song's title refers Redd's longing to perform during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. Redd stated: "I been locked away. I'm one of them people that's at the festivals, I come out going crazy out the rips. I'm ready to get back to my stage presence. I'm tired of this shit. I'm tired of sitting in the house 'cause that's all I been doing. With all the COVID shit going on, I was just in my creative space making music that I really fucked with"."Supernatural", the next song on the album, sees Redd rap about street life, his successes, and remaining loyal to where he grew up. Redd previewed the song on Instagram in June 2021. It was later leaked alongside the rest of Trip At Knight on August 17. The song's music video was released on 24 August 2021. The song is composed of two parts, the first of which is "upbeat". Upon the beat switch, the instrumental becomes "darker" and "lower". The ninth song, "Demon Time", is a collaboration with fellow rapper Ski Mask the Slump God. The song marked their first song together in three years following "Ghost Busters", a reworked version of which was also released in Trip at Knight as "Danny Phantom". The instrumental used is an altered version of producer Nadddot's fan-made Playboi Carti track, "*Givenchy". Redd first hinted at the collaboration by posting images of himself and Ski in the studio. Using Instagram, he previewed the song on 6 June 2021. On 13 August, Redd and Ski began teasing the song's music video via Instagram. On 2 September, the video was officially released. The tenth song, "Matt Hardy 999", is a reworked version of a previously leaked song. The track was initially teased within a YouTube interview with No Jumper in September 2018. It was then leaked in full on 23 January 2020. On 14 July 2021, a snippet of a new, shortened version of the song was leaked. It featured a new rage instrumental. The song – named after American wrestler Matt Hardy – was then released with the album later that year. Lyrically, as NME wrote, "the two exercise their braggadocio perfectly, their back-to-back approach meshing beautiful, as one seems to randomly pick up from the other: "Asking if I love her, I told her 'hardly' / Jumping off the top rope on that bitch like Matt Hardy"." Matt Hardy himself acknowledged the reference to him in the song and its title, tweeting: "It's very flattering that named one of his final raps after me. It's nice to be honored for all of the sacrifices I've made for people's entertainment over the years. #RIPJUICEWRLD". He added: "I didn't . Not until people started buzzing me on it." The song was critically acclaimed, often as the best track on the album.