Drake: ‘Take Care’ Album Review

Drake: 'Take Care' Album Review

Drake has always given fans an unfiltered sense of his feelings through song. His acclaimed mixtape, So Far Gone, captured the essence of an unsigned rapper who dreamed of being successful while lusting for  the beautiful women he encountered on his journey to stardom. On his major label debut, Thank Me Later, Drake gave insight on achieving status as the hottest newcomer in rap and the joys and pains of finally receiving the cash, fame and women that he always wished for.

Drake’s sophomore album, Take Care, reveals the trials of a young man who has fell in and out of love and has been left with conflicted ideas on relationships.


On “Over My Dead Body,” Drake raps about the pitfalls of dating a stripper and the consequences of earning more money last year. “I thought I found the girl of my dreams at a strip club/ F— it I was wrong though/ Shout out to all my n—-s living tax free/ Nowadays it’s six figures when they tax me.”

He teams up with Rick Ross for the Just Blaze-produced track “Lord Knows.”  It’s a significant hip-hop moment in an album filled with matters of the heart.


Rihanna, who dated Drake for a time, appears on the album’s title track, “Take Care.” She sings about mending a broken heart; “Marvin’s Room” is Drake’s take on being drunk and heartbroken; and he dishes out the heartbreak on “Doing It Wrong.” “So cry if you need to, but I can’t stay to watch you, that’s the wrong thing to do/ Touch if you need to, but I can’t stay to hold you, that’s the wrong thing to do,” Drake sings as Stevie Wonder plays the harmonica in the background.

Drake invites Andre 3000 and Lil Wayne to assist on “The Real Her.” While Lil Wayne turns in an unmemorable verse, Andre 3000 lays down the most poignant verse on the entire album. “N—-s that are married don’t wanna go home/ We look up to them, they wish they were us, they want some new trim, we lust for some trust.”

Other standout tracks include “Crew Love” (Feat. The Weeknd); “HYFR;” and “Underground Kings.”

Drake’s latest offering should not be considered a hip-hop album. Take Care is an R&B/-soul album with hip-hop elements (think Kanye West’s 808 & Heartbreaks without the rants). However, Drake does an adequate job of staying true to his emotions and creating mood music for those who are in search of love and individuals who have been hurt by its powerful remnants. –amir shaw

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