Drake "Take Care" Review

For many people, Drake's new album “Take Care” was the most highly anticipated release of any artist coming out in 2011.

Already a house hold superstar, many fans were touting “Take Care” as the album of the year as far back as summer when Drake did not even have a single song released. Coming off the debacle which was “Thank Me Later”, I felt Drake had a lot of work to do, in order to get back to the success he had with his critically acclaimed mix tape “So Far Gone.”

I have said numerous times that I considered “So Far Gone” to be Drake's actual debut album and “Thank Me Later” to just be a case of a sophomore slump. With “Take Care” Drake proves everybody right as the album is a fun, diverse record which sounds like the true sequel to “So Far Gone” but with Drake's growth and overall evolution as an artist.

Drake is clearly getting better and on “Take Care”, he masters his often imitated but never duplicated singing/rapping style over nice beats to offer listeners one of the most unique releases of the year.

“Take Care” can be listened to in three parts, with the first featuring a bunch of slower R&B inspired tracks.

The album opens up with a nice mellow, melodic piano as October's Very Own addresses his haters on “Over My Dead Body.” Storming out the gate, Drake raps “I think I killed everybody in the game last year man, fuck it I was on though.” Setting the tone nicely with his boasting lyrics, Drake lets the competition know that he is here for the long term and is a force to be reckoned with until he bows out of the game.

“Shot For Me” follows and is back to what Drake does best with his singing opening the first half of the track, and his rapping closing the remainder of the song with a flow that perfectly rides the beat. Drake even drops this gem of poetry towards the end of the song with the moving “may your neighbors respect you, trouble neglect you, angels protect you and heaven accept you.”

The next song “Headlines” is the lead single off of “Take Care” and is produced by Boi-1da who is responsible for some of Drake's biggest hits to date including “Best I Ever Had”, “Forever” and “Over.” “Headlines” is another hit for this dynamic duo as this song has been heard everywhere and has one of the best opening lines I have heard in quite a while with “I might be too strung out on compliments Overdosed on confidence started not to give a fuck and stop fearing the consequence Drinking every night because we drink to my accomplishments Faded way too long I'm floating in and out of consciousness.”

“Headlines” to me is the perfect song to showcase Drake's overall evolution as it is a stronger and better version of “Over.” The two songs are practically identical in every way but “Headlines” makes a louder statement especially with the multi-syllable opening bars, which is rarely done in mainstream hip-hop today and is a real standout record on the album.

Drake's partner in crime The Weeknd appears on the forth track “Crew Love.” “Crew Love” starts off with a heavy bass intro before The Weeknd begins to croon all over the spacey production, really shining on the track. Drake again comes in midway to deliver his verse, rapping lines such as “really I think I like who I'm becoming, there's times where I might do it just to do it like it's nothing” and “I told my story and made his-tory.”

The title track features Rihanna and Drake making great music again and I can see this track becoming a possible single in the future due to the trance/house beat the two duet over. “Take Care” showcases a vulnerable Drake singing and rapping to a girl who had her heart broken as he pleads with her to let her guard down and let him take care of her. With lines such as “pushing me away so I give her space, dealing with a heart that I didn't break”, Drake clearly wants this girl badly, but knows that he must be patient and let her heal first.

I believe this track is one of the stronger on the album and is a personal favorite of mine. Anytime Drake and Rihanna team up, the outcome is always positive and once again these two deliver.

“Marvins Room” is next and was the first song to be released from this record over the summer. The song is the essential formula for Drake's style and by now, everyone has heard this song. However, it was the following section titled “Buried Alive” which caught my eye, mainly because I saw that it featured Kendrick LaMar.

If you do not know by now, Kendrick LaMar is one of the hottest new rappers to come out of the West coast and has now been a key feature on two of hip-hops most notable releases of the year, the other being The Game's “RED Album.” What we get on “Buried Alive”, is pure brilliance from Kendrick LaMar, as he spits a straight two minute verse which is absolute fire. If you have not jumped on this kids bandwagon yet, I highly suggest you jump on quickly because K.Dot is blowing up fast and is already being crowned as the new king of the West coast without an actual album out.

“Buried Alive”, also signifies the end of the slower songs and introduces the harder more hip-hop based upbeat tracks on “Take Care.” This comes at the perfect time, because the album was starting to get a bit long and needed a change of pace to keep the listening smooth.

The first of these tracks is “Underground Kings” produced by T-Minus. Drake goes in with straight rap on this head-nodding fluid beat with lines such as “the living proof you don't have to die to get to heaven”, as well as referencing some of Lil' Wayne's best verses.

“We'll Be Fine” follows and although a solid track it is my least favorite song on the album. This leads to the second single released from “Take Care” and that is “Make Me Proud” featuring Young Money's queen-bee Nicki Minaj.

“Make Me Proud” is a nice choice for a single because it features a simple yet highly catchy hook perfect for the radio. Drake has a nice verse but Nicki does not do much for me and the track would have been better in my opinion if Nicki was not featured as much.

The structure of the track has Drake doing his verse first then the main chorus, followed by Nicki doing her verse and then her singing a chorus before going back to Drake. Nicki's chorus is unnecessary in my opinion and does nothing besides make us hear her cringeworthy metaphors such as “I'm a star, sheriff badge.”

Fortunately, the next track “Lord Knows” produced by Just Blaze and featuring the boss himself Rick Ross is one of the standout moments on “Take Care.” Just Blaze provides the craziest beat on the record and Drake absolutely snaps and arguably delivers his hardest verse to date. While Rick Ross also provides a nice verse, it does not compare to Drake spitting the fuck out of this song with lines such as “young ass nigga, lifelong dreams, they take the greats from the past and compare us.” Drake unquestionably lives up to his name on “Lord Knows” as he D.id R.ight A.nd K.illed. E.verything on this track.

“Cameras/Good Ones Go” is next and while “Cameras” is catchy, it is nothing spectacular but is the last of the harder hip-hop songs for the moment. In addition, “Good Ones Go” is a slower song and brings us back to the more R&B styled songs for the third and final part of “Take Care.”

The track I was most curious about is up next and that is “Doing It Wrong” featuring Stevie Wonder. “Doing It Wrong” is by far the most powerful song on “Take Care” with Drake singing truthful lines like “we live in a generation of not being in love, and not being together But we sure make it feel like we're together Because we're scared to see each other with somebody else.” For Stevie Wonder, he really brings this track to life with a beautiful harmonica solo, which is good enough to listen to on repeat for hours.

“The Real Her” is next and is the first Lil' Wayne feature on the album as well as a guest appearance from Andre 3000. “The Real Her” was released a couple of months ago, but it was incomplete since Andre 3000's verse was not added at the time.

Upon first listen, the track seems like a sequel to “Houstatlantavegas” off of “So Far Gone”, as Drake and Wayne have really mastered the formula of melody and delivery to cross over and adapt their songs to whatever genre they choose to apply the techniques too. Both are able to make catchier and stronger slow love songs then most actual R&B singers and with the addition of 3000, the song is an undeniable hit. Andre 3000 gives the track just what it needed and once again comes through proving he is one of the best to ever pick up a microphone, as his entire verse is pure magic.

Lil' Wayne makes his second straight appearance on “HYFR (Hell Yeah Fucking Right)” and delivers what is possibly his best verse since being released from Rikers. Wayne opens his verse with "so much for being optimistic, they say love is in the air, so I hold my breath until my face turn purple." Wayne comes off grimy on this track but I fear that within a weak or two “HYFR” will be that new annoying overplayed acronym that will be all over Facebook and Twitter, making me want to blow my brains out.

“Look What You've Done” is a beautiful piano sampled beat as Drizzy tells the tale of how he came from nothing and turned into something all because of the inspiration provided by his aunt. This track is moving and is a great story about never giving up on your dreams and believing in yourself.

The following song “Practice”, really caught me off guard, but as it progressed it turned into a cool moment, since it samples old school Cash Money with a “Back That Azz Up” Juvenile sample. Along with the similar beat, Drake's flow is identical to the original for a 2011 remix sound which is surprisingly good and is something I could see being played in a strip club.

The closing track to the album "The Ride" is a song which has had the the internet buzzing since May. Declared by Drake to be his favorite song on "Take Care", when the song was not released with the rest of the album, "The Ride" turned into a song of mythical proportions and for good reason. Featuring atmospheric background vocals from The Weeknd, “The Ride” is classic Drake with multiple memorable lines such as “you know it's real when your latest nights are your greatest nights The sun is up when you get home that's just the way of life” and “you niggas getting older, I see no threat in Yoda.”

“The Ride” is the type of song I enjoy hearing most from Drake, as it is him at his lyrical best. Make no mistake about it, “The Ride” is not only one of the best songs on “Take Care” but one of the best Drake songs period, and is a great track to end a great album.

“Take Care” is a very good album which lives up and might even surpass expectations on what was predicted. Drake's progress as an artist/rapper/singer/entertainer are all exposed here and it entails a throughly enjoyable listen.

Seeming to find the perfect balance between lyricism and emotions, the record has a good flow which will keep you interested the whole way through the 17 tracks. Those who proclaimed “Take Care” to be album of the year are not far off, as it certainly is in contention and is the real album we will thank Drake for later.

Ranked on the Beavis and Butt-Head Ranking System:
4 Beavis' out of 5 Butt-Heads

Songs I Recommend:
Headlines, Take Care, Lord Knows, The Real Her, The Ride

Tracklist:
1. Over My Dead Body
2. Shot For Me
3. Headlines
4. Crew Love ft. The Weeknd
5. Take Care ft. Rihanna
6. Marvins Room / Buried Alive (Interlude) ft. Kendrick LaMar
7. Underground Kings
8. We'll Be Fine ft. Birdman
9. Make Me Proud ft. Nicki Minaj
10. Lord Knows ft. Rick Ross
11. Cameras / Good Ones Go (Interlude)
12. Doing It Wrong ft. Stevie Wonder
13. The Real Her ft. Lil' Wayne & Andre 3000
14. HYFR (Hell Yeah Fuckin' Right) ft. Lil' Wayne
15. Look What You've Done
16. Practice
17. The Ride ft. The Weeknd