[Review] Drake – “Take Care”

Fifteen years ago Aubrey “Drake” Graham would have been too “soft” to gain respect in the hip-hop community. You see, back in 1996 hip-hop was all about exaggerating your status. There was no room to be honest with your emotions. You couldn’t be a dope emcee who was self-effacing because the exaggeration was what made you the envy of the culture. Whether it be a hardcore street thug putting more bodies in the morgue than the Second World War, a sex machine who pops bottles with the finest models, or a hustler making money hand over fist, every emcee had a knack for talking up a good game while leaving out all the pitfalls in their own lives.

In 2009, Drake fell into the rap game at the right time. Gangsters on record but not in real life were accepted (Hi, Ricky), hip-hop featured more genre bending and an appreciation for non-hip-hop acts and stances softened in general when it came to keeping it real. A kid who acted on a popular Canadian teen drama saw a crack in the door and chose to kick it wide open with a mixtape titled “So Far Gone.” Not for nothing, Drake was a dope rapper in his own right who studied the independent acts making noise while cultivating his own sound that fell softly into the hearts of women. Being scooped up by Lil Wayne’s Young Money conglomerate gave him the audience to test his sound with and Thank Me Later passed the test with flying colors. He represents the unspoken emotions of people who constantly struggle to find their place in the world. Little did he know that it would be such a resounding impact on the industry and people in general. But with great success comes infinite forms of hate by those who can’t relate to his emo material or just flat out don’t like his singing. By being an artist who takes comfort in wearing his feelings on his sleeve, the target on his back grows to King Kong like proportions since most figure that he’s too soft to fire back anyway.

But if Drake has a motto, it would be “Kill them with kindness.”

In a way, Drake’s sophomore album Take Care is a Jim Harbaugh handshake and pat on the back to his haters. He does what he does, does it well and doesn’t give a f*ck about you not liking it. Keeping the ingredients the same, Drake crafts Take Care with that same honesty that fans have grown to identify with – even if his issues don’t hit as hard thanks to the mounds of money he uses like a Kevlar vest. He’s still singing and taking chances with his sound. He might not be the toughest rapper on the scene, but he’ll be damned if your criticism makes him back off of what he’s so good at.

“Over My Dead Body” appears to pick up Drake’s life shortly after Thank Me Later. “Are these people discussing my career again?/Asking if I’ll be going platinum in a year again/Don’t I got the shit the world wanna hear again?/Don’t Michael Jordan still got his hoop earring in?” he cleverly muses. He addresses the thinly veiled jabs fueled by jealousy, still struggling to capture the heart of the right woman and representing for his beloved city of Toronto. Drake still opts to confess his true feelings more often than not. Whether it be owning up to his sexual escapades on the inebriated late night phone call to a an old girlfriend on “Marvin’s Room” or engaging in a bit of bromance on The Weeknd assisted “Crew Love,” it always feels like Drake is trying to define his moral compass so he can digest his own lifestyle. It’s alienating in a sense, especially considering that his life appears more secluded in real life than it does in his music. Drake’s music is about as close as you’re going to get to the rapper’s emotions. But that’s what art is supposed to be for, right?

Don’t get it confused, Drake can trash talk and cripple a few bars when needed. The chest thumping “Lord Knows” is the perfect example of this as Rick Ross rides shotgun for a track meet that Just Blaze lays the musical foundation for. “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” he spews. The same goes from the down south rumbling of “Underground Kings” where Drake salutes his own existence “I swear, it’s been two years since somebody ask me who I was/I’m the greatest, man, I said that before I knew I was.”

Sonically, Take Care is overseen by Noah “40” Shebib and features a stew of deep basslines lifted from the trunk rattling Houston scene, downtempo and low end groove sprinklings, cleverly used samples and hints of R&B and hip-hop layering the sound. It’s unique and effective for someone whose lyrics tend to be a bit on the moody side.  

The smoky lounge piano keys lifted from a never released Playa song hover around Drake’s ode to his mother on the Chase N. Cashe produced “Look What You’ve Done” before the groove drops into a heavy bassline and hand claps for the hook. The Jon B sample of “Calling On You” on “Cameras” is the perfect backdrop for Drake’s attempts to convince that gossip regarding his many love interests shouldn’t allow the panties to come tumbling down from the opposite sex.

His handpicked guests do more to enhance the experience than to take away from his emotional roller coaster. Andre 3000 contributes a stellar verse on “The Real Her,” fellow Canadian The Weeknd’s signature falsetto rolls effortlessly on the aforementioned “Crew Love” and the iTunes bonus track “The Ride.” But Compton upstart Kendrick Lamar completely massacres his 2 minutes on the “Buried Alive Interlude.”

Take Care isn’t without its faults though. The Nicki Minaj assisted “Make Me Proud” is plagued by a lackluster hook while the Stevie Wonder assisted “Doing It Wrong” sounds better on paper than it does in real life as Wonder’s harmonica playing doesn’t really lift the drippy R&B tune. “We’ll Be Fine” oozes of Young Money filler and the title track feels a bit out of place amongst the rest of the album.

Small hiccups aside, Drake’s dodges the sophomore jinx and releases a moody album that as quite the artistic feat for the 25-year-old. Chock full of emotion, Take Care finds Drake triumphantly planting his flag on the continent of hip-hop while getting his passport stamped by other musical genres who can relate to his multiple layers of emotion. Simply put, he’s that damn good at what he does and he’ll only continue to get better just as long as his ambition remains the same.

Rating: 4.25 out of 5