1. Over My Dead Body
2. Shot For Me
3. Headlines
4. Crew Love (feat. The Weeknd)
5. Take Care (feat. Rihanna)
6. Marvin's Room/Buried Alive (Interlude)
7. Underground Kings
8. We'll Be Fine
9. Make Me Proud (feat. Nicki Minaj)
10. Lord Knows (feat. Rick Ross)
11. Cameras/Good Ones Go (Interlude)
12. Doing It Wrong (feat. Stevie Wonder)
13. The Real Her (feat. Lil Wayne & Andre 3000)
14. HYFR (Hell Yeah Fuckin' Right) (feat. Lil Wayne)
15. Look What You've Done
16. Practice
Like any artist that has an enormous fan base and is featured on every other song on the radio, I've always been very skeptical about Drake as an R&B artist. Listening to "Take Care" on repeat for a week or so helped me gain an unbiased perspective of Drake and his music, and I was pleasantly surprised with some of the tracks on the album. Turns out that the album actually captures a lot of Drake's personal issues and stories, based on the themes of love, heartbreak, newfound riches, fame - I give him credit for that. "Take Care" is supposedly more thought out than Drake's previous album "Thank Me Later", which was admittedly rushed for the sake of getting an album out there.
The album starts off with "Over Dead My Body", a very 'intro-like' yet catchy opening track. I was almost reluctant to start the album, yet this song caught me by surprise with its minimalistic beat and the catchy, robotic hook sung by Chantal Kreviazuk. So far so good.
"Shot For Me" is the next track up, with a sung, mellow intro that reminds us that above anything else this is a R&B album. Drake gives a shoutout to his ex-girlfriends, some of which he's clearly still attached to, claiming that the way they live their lives is largely due to their past relationships with him. I initially dismissed this song as another braggy-emotional-confused song typical of Drake, but it grew on me a little bit after the first couple of listens.
The next track, also one of the 3 singles on the album, "Headlines" is a little more upbeat than its predecessors. Definitely more commercially-geared, this hip-hop tune is little but a swag anthem on Drake's part...typical of what was playing on the radio when the single was released. Personally don't like this one very much.
"Crew Love" is, in my opinion, one of the few real gems on the album. With The Weeknd's almost surreal vocal pitch and an interesting production collaboration between The Weeknd and Drake's most prominent producer, 40, this track is a prime example of the spacey underwater sound unique to Drake tracks. Another swag anthem about women pursuing the two artists, could be summed up by: 'I'm rich, famous, and women want me."
The second single, "Take Care", is OK. Just OK. Rihanna's singing is refreshing compared to the rest of the album, but in I don't think the production is on par with the rest of the album. Lyrically, this song did speak to me in a way though - "dealing with a heart that I didn't break."
The next single is "Marvin's Room/Buried Alive (Interlude)". Marvin's room had a lot of commercial success, and in my opinion it's one of Drake's realest tracks about romance, regret, doubt, etc. However, I feel that 40's production is again sub-par on this track...until the interlude featuring Kendrick Lamar, which is my favorite part of the album. Finally a real rapper makes an appearance on the album, and this interlude segment characterizes 40's mellow spacey production.
After this long, long double track there's "Underground Kings" which is one of the few tracks I'd consider to be hip-hop on Take Care. Instrumentally nothing special, lyrically nothing except for a little bit of flossin' by Drake.
"We'll Be Fine" is another hip-hop song, this time a little bit more instrumentally developed. The contrast between light/mellow and heavy makes this song a good listen, yet there's still something missing lyrically.
Nicki Minaj makes an appearance on "Make Me Proud". I'm personally not a big Nicki Minaj fan - in fact I find her quite annoying with her delivery and quirks - making this track one of my least favorites on the album. Drake isn't lyrically on top here either, so the best I can say about this track is a nice production by T-Minus.
"Lord Knows" is another one of those gems on the album. Instrumentally, this is my favorite track on the album because of the massive choir sounds in the background. I'm not a huge Rick Ross fan either, but his appearance kind of suits the track and I'm not too bothered about the fact that the song's just a flashy reiteration that these guys are rich.
"Cameras/Good Ones Go (Interlude)" was the point for me where the album started dragging a little bit. I actually find Drake's rap on the "Cameras" part a little obnoxious, but "Good Ones Go" sort of makes up for it by digging a little deeper lyrically and emotionally.
Next, we have "Doing It Wrong", which features Stevie Wonder (though only on harmonica and not in singing like we all would have loved to hear). I have a hunch that Drake asked Stevie Wonder to sing, but Stevie declined because he wasn't ready to stoop down to today's level of R&B, yet still needed a little extra money the opportunity provided. That's just my opinion. Overall not a bad song, a little sad as it's on the theme of breakups and failed romances.
"The Real Her" is one of those songs that you have to hear and listen to thoroughly at least a dozen times before you can make anything of it. Lil' Wayne's first guest appearance on the album and a surprising ending by Andre 3000, the song touches on the topic of the insecurity that comes with female attention following fame and wealth. "To her I'm just a rapper and soon she'll have met another."
Coming to a close, we reach "HYFR" which is a lot more hip-hoppy than the 3 tracks preceding it. It's a little but more bright than the emotionally-laden songs leading up to it, and it features a nice Lil' Wayne verse (though I feel Lil' Wayne's style and talent has steadily declined since he started working with artists like Drake...but that's another story).
The second to last track, "Look What You've Done", is perhaps one of Drake's more introspective tracks off the album. We learn that much of his motivation to make it big came from the fact that his mother needed taking care of (sickness, sadness, loneliness, etc.) and paints a picture of what his childhood looked like living alone with his mother. Kind of touches me since I think of my own mother's situation.
Finally, we close off with "Practice". At this point, I can't take one more song and would have been happy had the album ended one track earlier. Just a song about how the women Drake sleeps with use other men for practice for when they get to him. Alright, thank you.
Overall, I was pleasantly surprised with what the album had to offer, considering I had always written Drake off as a commercial sellout because of his huge fan base and slightly arrogant media presence. Musically, we're looking at some very interesting and innovative production by Noah '40' Shebib, who is apparently under-credited for the album. Lyrically, Drake has some talent as a rapper but we have to remember that this is predominantly an R&B album. Thematically, and probably the main reason I appreciated the album, Drake exposes his flaws and insecurities as not only a star but also as a male. This speaks to me on a personal level since I can relate to a lot of the romance-induced insecurities he talks about. Of course, this is all balanced out with several well-placed swagger anthems. In conclusion, if you're expecting the album that saves the dying rap scene (...some people claim it's going downhill, I don't fully disagree), then you're looking in the wrong place. This is, again, an R&B album with some rap passages - and it's good for what it is: an emotional, introspective, and not always happy look at Drake's lifestyle.
The next single is "Marvin's Room/Buried Alive (Interlude)". Marvin's room had a lot of commercial success, and in my opinion it's one of Drake's realest tracks about romance, regret, doubt, etc. However, I feel that 40's production is again sub-par on this track...until the interlude featuring Kendrick Lamar, which is my favorite part of the album. Finally a real rapper makes an appearance on the album, and this interlude segment characterizes 40's mellow spacey production.
After this long, long double track there's "Underground Kings" which is one of the few tracks I'd consider to be hip-hop on Take Care. Instrumentally nothing special, lyrically nothing except for a little bit of flossin' by Drake.
"We'll Be Fine" is another hip-hop song, this time a little bit more instrumentally developed. The contrast between light/mellow and heavy makes this song a good listen, yet there's still something missing lyrically.
Nicki Minaj makes an appearance on "Make Me Proud". I'm personally not a big Nicki Minaj fan - in fact I find her quite annoying with her delivery and quirks - making this track one of my least favorites on the album. Drake isn't lyrically on top here either, so the best I can say about this track is a nice production by T-Minus.
"Lord Knows" is another one of those gems on the album. Instrumentally, this is my favorite track on the album because of the massive choir sounds in the background. I'm not a huge Rick Ross fan either, but his appearance kind of suits the track and I'm not too bothered about the fact that the song's just a flashy reiteration that these guys are rich.
"Cameras/Good Ones Go (Interlude)" was the point for me where the album started dragging a little bit. I actually find Drake's rap on the "Cameras" part a little obnoxious, but "Good Ones Go" sort of makes up for it by digging a little deeper lyrically and emotionally.
Next, we have "Doing It Wrong", which features Stevie Wonder (though only on harmonica and not in singing like we all would have loved to hear). I have a hunch that Drake asked Stevie Wonder to sing, but Stevie declined because he wasn't ready to stoop down to today's level of R&B, yet still needed a little extra money the opportunity provided. That's just my opinion. Overall not a bad song, a little sad as it's on the theme of breakups and failed romances.
"The Real Her" is one of those songs that you have to hear and listen to thoroughly at least a dozen times before you can make anything of it. Lil' Wayne's first guest appearance on the album and a surprising ending by Andre 3000, the song touches on the topic of the insecurity that comes with female attention following fame and wealth. "To her I'm just a rapper and soon she'll have met another."
Coming to a close, we reach "HYFR" which is a lot more hip-hoppy than the 3 tracks preceding it. It's a little but more bright than the emotionally-laden songs leading up to it, and it features a nice Lil' Wayne verse (though I feel Lil' Wayne's style and talent has steadily declined since he started working with artists like Drake...but that's another story).
The second to last track, "Look What You've Done", is perhaps one of Drake's more introspective tracks off the album. We learn that much of his motivation to make it big came from the fact that his mother needed taking care of (sickness, sadness, loneliness, etc.) and paints a picture of what his childhood looked like living alone with his mother. Kind of touches me since I think of my own mother's situation.
Finally, we close off with "Practice". At this point, I can't take one more song and would have been happy had the album ended one track earlier. Just a song about how the women Drake sleeps with use other men for practice for when they get to him. Alright, thank you.
Overall, I was pleasantly surprised with what the album had to offer, considering I had always written Drake off as a commercial sellout because of his huge fan base and slightly arrogant media presence. Musically, we're looking at some very interesting and innovative production by Noah '40' Shebib, who is apparently under-credited for the album. Lyrically, Drake has some talent as a rapper but we have to remember that this is predominantly an R&B album. Thematically, and probably the main reason I appreciated the album, Drake exposes his flaws and insecurities as not only a star but also as a male. This speaks to me on a personal level since I can relate to a lot of the romance-induced insecurities he talks about. Of course, this is all balanced out with several well-placed swagger anthems. In conclusion, if you're expecting the album that saves the dying rap scene (...some people claim it's going downhill, I don't fully disagree), then you're looking in the wrong place. This is, again, an R&B album with some rap passages - and it's good for what it is: an emotional, introspective, and not always happy look at Drake's lifestyle.
