Drake, Take Care
More than a year after his debut album and fresh off a summer of hits, Drake goes for the top spot with his sophomore effort, Take Care…
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Call Drake emotional. Say he sings too much. Characterize him as cocky. None of that has halted his ascent to the top of the charts. In fact, his ability to disarm any slights against him and internalize them has resulted in the 25-year-old’s becoming a leading voice across mainstream music. Now, with his sophomore effort, Take Care, a little more than a year removed from grappling with newfound fame on Thank Me Later, Drake has fully embraced his current position, insistent that he deserves it and confident that he won’t let it go.
Drizzy lays out that perspective on the album’s first two lines, via the piano-driven “Over My Dead Body,” where he raps, “I think I killed everybody in the game last year, man/Fuck it, I was on, though/And I thought I found the girl of my dreams at a strip club/Fuck it, I was wrong, though.” The uncompromising lyricism continues on “Underground Kings,” “HYFR (Hell Ya Fuckin Right),” “Headlines” and the Just Blaze–produced “Lord Knows.” The last number includes Rick Ross, one of the six rap features on the album—Lil Wayne (twice), Andre 3000, Nicki Minaj and Kendrick Lamar—each fittingly placed and complementary in their appeal. (Rihanna, The Weeknd and Stevie Wonder’s harmonica also appear.) Some of Drake’s vulnerabilities also seem to have withered away, and the unfiltered honesty that connected with many is more sporadic than in the past, although “Look What You’ve Done” tugs on the heartstrings, as Drake delves deep into his relationships with his mother and his uncle, both of whom raised him.
Not surprisingly, females are the topic du jour on Take Care, with tales about past lovers (“Marvin’s Room”) and potential lovers (“The Real Her”), about honoring women (“Make Me Proud”) and commodifying them (“We’ll Be Fine”). The Toronto native expertly juggles his singing and rapping, confirming his growing songwriting abilities. Still, things become too R&B-centric toward the end, when Drake’s crooning carries three straight cuts, without a single bar spit.
The album’s strongest suit is its sonic cohesion. Led by T.dot all-stars 40 and T-Minus, who, combined, produced 12 of the 17 tracks, Take Care is somber and mellow, cold but not unwelcoming. Its ethereal chords, delicate strings and subtle percussion provide a steady mood and tone that is both dense and structured. Coupled with Drake’s voice, cadence and multiple flows, the sound bed creates a captivating and enveloping listening experience.
Overall, Take Care’s sum is greater than its parts. This isn’t a drawback—especially in hip-hop’s current climate, where new material comes and goes. As Drake continues to find his voice and stay true to himself, he’s put his team in place to take care of the rap game for the near future.
’Til next time. —Adam Fleischer
Drake is terrible and has no message. mainstream hip hop is dead
lol He is an R&b SINGER He doesn’t need a message he just needs to help me get panties off (excuse the vulgarity ladies) If you want Hip Hop Don’t even look at the mainstream look underground. lol
You don’t need to completely look to underground, but you are right about drake for the most part. He’s too much of a singer too be a core rapper. A Hip hop artist yes, care rapper no. Also he sounds like wayne–but he’s singing.
Maybe it is just you that is so stupid that you don’t any message at all! Fuck you nigga, you don’t get a damn thing! You just can’t relate to being on top! Lowlife nigga!
your ugly
Well that rating was expected. Personally I give it a L. Too many sing-songs and two little bangers.
I agree, theyre all lyrically deep songs but most aren’t really songs you’d play rollin in your car or at a club
not surprised… XXL stay riding popular artist… while an artist say REKS dropped an album that shits on drake lyrically, message wise and beats only gets an L.
@Hube: I feel like thats an ignorant statement, but I see where you are coming from. Pretty good album for the most part a few of the R&B laced tracks could have been replaced with some of the joints he released this Summer. I find him message and flows to be on point, but it gets old that someone with so much wealth, women, and power can be so damn distressed and unsatisfied. If feel as a whole Take Care is one of the best sophomore albums I’ve heard in the past year, yea Ambition was on there along with others but you cant hate on this guys success as well as his ability to deliver what he sets out to do. In terms of mainstream hip hop, Im so tired of reading grumpy old men or little kids who just picked up a copy of All Eyez on Me saying that any form of hip hop is dead. Hip Hop is an evolution, it is dynamic not static. In my book Drake may not be the best representative of the Hip Hop world, as half the things he talks about currently dont relate to me, but the kids still selling cds, killing flows, and he along with dude like Lamar, Cole, and Wale are delivering a form of Hip Hop that fits with their day and time. Sure Drake drops a half hearted meaningless song every once in a while but “Look What You’ve Done” is probably the most heart felt thing anyone could put out, reminds me of dear mama only coated in rainbows and butterflies. Hip Hop aint dead, its alive in these dudes work, if you cant deal with that stop listening to mainstream shit, change your genre up a bit, and stop bitching.
AMEN!!!
YES!!!!!
shitty review this was a large at most…
why does every fucking album get an xl!!??
I throw this on when a chick is talkin too much in the whip.
u gotta be fuckin kidding me… how much is young money payin XXL for these reviews, and why dont we get any reviews for shit like the new Tech N9ne album or Banks last mixtape?
drake successfully pieced together a nice collection of music with a solid, consistent sound and well portrayed themes. however, tracks such as “HYFR” , “take care” , and the single “make me proud” all bring the album down. the album was noticably too long and its clear that some of the material could be taken out such as the features (including waynes horrific 2 verses). there is alot of good material, drakes insightful, emotion-packed lyrics prove hes come a long way from the overly-melodramatic “thank me later” debut. he paints good pictures, though some of his lyrics are a bit corny, his maturation has shown and makes for an enjoyable listen. i say L
Way too many XL being given out on these reviews.. Think they should have like 5 people review the cd and go with the majority vote. Joint is like a L at best
sounds like a real good idea to do that cus they need to do something about these reviews