Music Review: Drake - 'Take Care'

Since 'Take Care' leaked like a faulty pipe this week and Drake is one of my favourite artists, I (Jade) asked Eathan Sergeant to write a review of the album. And I must say its PRETTY DAMN AMAZING (the album and the review). Have a read folks.

Drake’s hugely anticipated sophomore album Take Care is finally with us, after days, weeks and months of waiting. Anyone who pays close attention to Drake and his music will know his thoughts on his debut album Thank Me Later,  and will therefore know he believed it was a rushed job. He wanted to be given the chance to show the world what he could do with the right amount of time. I don’t know about you guys, but since he thought Thank Me Later fell far short of what he was capable of, I was going crazy with anticipation to see what Drake would provide for us with Take Care!

The album has a very strong introduction, with Over My Dead Body showcasing Drake’s singing abilities, but also his capability to pack a verse with lyrics we all can relate to.  Towards the end of the track Drake states “Yeah, don’t make me take your life apart boy/You and whoever the f*** gave you your start boy/Or you wanna be a motherf***ing funny guy? /Don’t make me break your Kevin heart boy”. When I first heard this, I thought Drake was sending a subliminal directed to Big Sean and his mentor Kanye West, as Big Sean has often accused Drake of copying his “Supa Dupa Flow” style. Am I right in thinking this? Am I clutching at straws? Hmm… who knows.

 Shot For Me is where Drake’s singing is at its best on Take Care. Here, he portrays the honest approach to rap that I deeply respect about him. He’s had trouble with girlfriends in the past, simply due to them them believing false rumours and not trusting him. On this track, Drake lets rip, proclaiming; “Can’t you see that I made it, yeah I made it/First I made you who you are, then I made it/And you’re wasted, with your ladies/Yeah I’m the reason why you always getting faded”. This is hard hitting stuff. No holds barred.

He then begins to rap at the end of the track in the last verse. This is done effortlessly. His ability to express himself through singing and rapping at such close intervals on 1 track - whilst producing his lyrics with the same level of emotion and intensity, is something that should be hugely respected. 

Make Me Proud fits in with the simply “good tracks” on Take Care which I haven’t discussed,  but as this features 2 notable artists; I felt it deserved to get a mention. Drake and Nicki Minaj come together to produce a catchy track, where they rap about personal views on their ideal partners and relationships. Are they speaking about each other here… hmm? Back to the music anyhow, this track did not reach the heights of Up All Night on Thank Me Later, however it still provides us with a good quality sound, where both artists perform relatively well.

As is the case with most albums, not all of the songs are great. Which leads me to my first question in this review. Why oh why did Drake include Rihanna on this LP? This WAS NOT going to reverse the trend. Her weak vocals would not have been missed. Although the song Take Care provides an up tempo pop sounding beat, it wasn’t amongst the best songs on the album in terms of quality. Rihanna sounds off tune at times in her attempt to carry the song, and Drake’s bars are not as meaningful as some others he provides on further tracks. However, as all close followers of rap music know, these days a pop/catchy song is the required ingredient on an LP, to ensure a good amount of radio time.

Other standout tracks on the album include Headlines, Marvin’s Room, HYFR and Lord Knows. HYFR certainly did provide us with the “new flows” Drake has been tweeting and speaking of all Summer. His high octane rapping technique here, shows his development in terms of variation of his style. This flow is new from Drake, unheard on previous tracks. Additionally and surprisingly, even Lil Wayne managed to provide Drizzy with a good quality feature, after a poor performance on The Motto. 

The production to Lord Knows in particular is a masterpiece by Just Blaze. Because of this, many have been calling the track the best rap song of the year, and the best song on the album by far. Drizzy certainly kills the beat with his punchy lines as well. “I know of all the things that I hear they be poking fun at/Never the flow though, they know I run that”. Drake knows people make fun of his mannerisms (especially that non-stop shaking hand), but he also knows his rap ability can never be questioned. And for all you guys that be hating on Drake’s singing? He’s got an answer to you to – “I'm hearing all of the jokes, I know that they tryna push me/I know that showin' emotion don't ever mean I'm a pussy/Know that I don't make music for niggas who don't get pussy/So those are the ones I count on to diss me or overlook me”. All I can say to you guys is… Shame.

Take Care is an improvement on Thank Me Later, an improvement which Drake promised. For me personally, this album goes toe to toe with J. Cole’s album – Cole World The Sideline Story for the title of Rap album of the year, just shading it because it has that extra piece of quality. This quality is down to the production of most of Take Care’s 17 tracks, along with the versatility of the tracks. 

I know some reading this may be of the belief that a rapper shouldn’t be singing, or consider rappers who sing as “soft”, but I ask you guys to get rid of these stereotypes and warped opinions. Rap stands for R-hythm A-nd P-oetry, and if Drake is talented enough to provide us with this through singing and rapping, and do it all on 1 track most of the time, WITHOUT making the track sound disjointed, then we should embrace it, not knock it. 

Drake has raised the level with Take Care. He’s doing something that no other mainstream rapper is doing. He’s rapping AND singing, and doing it well. Take Care has brought about a new, more pronounced style from Drake, a style that fans and music followers alike better get used to, because it will be successful, and it’s here to stay.

By Eathan Sergeant

So I think we'll be coming to Eathan for all our music reviews :) 

Hope you enjoyed reading!

Lots of love

Jadeybaby

xXx