Drake: Take Care - Album Review

Drake
Take Care
Rating: Grrrr

Canadian rapper/singer Drake has said that he was upset with how his debut Thank Me Later came out, wishing it were more polished and deliberated over. Based on the high quality of that album, Drake must be an unforgiving perfectionist. His tracks are thoughtful, unlike most high-profile rappers, relentlessly pursuing new, fresh sounds, willing to skirt the fence between pop music and more experimental textures. And his verses and rhymes, while boastful at times, are also surprisingly self-depreciating and sincere. Take Care, the follow up, continues that trend, finding Drake still dealing with becoming successful, rich, and famous, enjoying the trappings of success, but wanting more. Drake is still utilizing producer Noah "40" Shebib, but finds room to use friends The Weeknd and Jamie xx for other tracks. While there are plenty of pounding, dancefloor beats on Take Care, the majority of the album is muted and minimal, focusing on mood and nuance.

The first track leaked from the album, "Marvin's Room" is a perfect example. Recorded in Marvin Gaye's Hollywood studio where he dissected his divorce from wife Anna Gordy, veering from regret, pain, bile, sadness, and spite. Drake similarly dissects a past relationship, turning to the ultimate drunk-dial fantasy, imploring his ex to "fuck that ni**a that you love so bad/I know you still think about the times we had/I say fuck that ni**a that you think you found/And since you picked up I know he's not around." But knowing he has lost her for good, his refrain of "I'm just saying you can do better/tell me have you heard that lately" becomes lonelier and lonelier as the track progresses.



Drake sings more than raps on Take Care, and while his range is fairly limited, his voice is silky and smooth and imbibes the songs with the right amount of sadness and pathos. The standout track "Doing It Wrong" has Drake lamenting the loss of a girl, but knowing he has to get away from her if he will ever heal, singing "so cry if you need/I can't stay to watch you/it would be the wrong thing to do." Drake enlists Stevie Wonder to end the track with a hauntingly sad harmonica solo.



"Shot For Me" lays Drake's velvet voice over skittering mid-tempo beats, telling off the woman who left him for another man.

Shot For Me - Drake by worldhiphopfirst

The most interesting tracks are those where he goes outside of the mainstream. His collaboration with Jamie xx and Rihanna on the title track is particularly successful. Jamie xx takes a sample from his own collaboration with the late Gil Scott-Heron and adds it to a light, moombahaton beat and dark, house piano chords.



And on "Crew Love" he takes a cue from The Weeknd, creating a track full of the paranoia and darkness associated with the Toronto R&B collective.



Drake is still game for his style of boasting, but looking at it from a distance, both loving it, appreciative of it, but curious as to why it is happening to him. A series of tracks shows Drake's increased confidence in his rap style. "Headlines" is a buzzy rap/sung track dissing the people who don't believe in him.



"Underground Kings" chronicles Drake's rise to the top, laying a lowkey flow to busy programmed beats and twinkling guitars.



"We'll Be Fine" is a hard hitting lament that fame is fleeting and Drake is going to enjoy it while he can.

Drake - We'll Be Fine by pashaivanov

"HYFR (Hell Ya Fuckin' Right)" has Drake dizzily rushing through the opening verses showing his improved flow.



Some of Drake's other collaborations are somewhat predictable, but don't suffer because of it. I love the bouncy, rapid-fire flow of "Make Me Proud" with a typically hyper-freaky rap from Nicki Minaj:



"The Real Her" is a gorgeous ballad, with stuttering beats and treated pianos, featuring lovely guest verses from Lil' Wayne and Andre 3000.

Drake Ft. Lil Wayne - The Real Her by LitoStarr

Take Care shows Drake with improved confidence in his rapping/singing, and being more focused with his music ideas. At 16 songs and 80 minutes, there is a bit of bloat to the record. The first half is such perfection that the back half has to suffer from it. Aside from that small issue, Take Care is one of the best records of the year, and for those looking for rap and R&B with something more substantial to it, this is the record to buy.

Rating Scale:

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and peaks one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.