Review #95: Take Care, Drake
#95: Take Care, Drake
All the songs on Take Care were everywhere back when I encountered pop music at places like bars and parties. Hearing this music gives me strong flashbacks to being in a club.
I saw Drake live two or three years after this came out, but I was NOT a Drake fan at the time, so unfortunately my memories of it are a little unconnected to individual songs. I do remember him bringing a woman onstage that was VERY excited about being near Drake.
Drake, if you don’t know, is the Saddest Boy in Toronto. In terms of raw sadness, I think Frank Ocean is slightly sadder by default because Drake is too successful to be sad.
I forgot how LONG a Drake album is. All the songs are five or more minutes long, and jeez, that’s a lot of very soft rap music. Drake also doesn’t exactly do anything thrilling with his voice, and he does have a bit of a droning quality. That gets challenging after an hour and 20 minutes.
There’s a reason that some pop/rap albums are so long right now, and the answer is streaming. Basically, you’re not supposed to listen to a whole Drake album at once. He just wants an album that appeals to the widest amount of people, because listeners can pick and choose what songs they listen to.
I don’t fault Drake for gaming the system but I also never want to listen to another Drake album again.
FAVORITE SONGS:
“Over My Dead Body” — Does Rihanna’s presence on this album automatically make it better? Yes, it does.
“Headlines” — Okay, THIS song was definitely everywhere, in a not-too-distant era. Sunrise, sunset/ Sunrise, sunset/ Swiftly flow the days…
“Take Care” — I like this one, but what the hell is that breakdown in the middle?
“Marvin’s Room” — Even though this is, like, Drake at his whiniest, this is a really great song. The piano breakdown at the end is so cool on a rap album. I actually prefer the JoJo cover, though.
“Buried Alive Interlude” — Oh thank God, it’s Kendrick Lamar.
“Under Ground Kings” — This song sounds like it should be the soundtrack to a Spider-Man video game and I love it.
“We’ll Be Fine” — Drake spends an awful lot of time reassuring himself that everything’s alright.
“Make Me Proud” — I kind of hate this song but I LOVE Nicki Minaj’s verse so I’ll look the other way.
“Doing It Wrong” — This is an unbelievable earworm.
“The Real Her” — Oh thank God, it’s Lil Wayne and Andre 3000.
“HYFR (Hell Ya F***ing Right)” — Lil Wayne again. I just love Lil Wayne. I always imagine his voice coming from a talking frog.
“The Motto” — YOLO! Of course Drake would put the best song on this album as the very last one.
LEAST FAVORITE SONGS:
“Shot For Me” — Every so often, I think Drake is way over-Autotuned.
“Crew Love” — Look, I think The Weeknd is talented and has a gorgeous voice and whatever, but I just don’t like all the errant vocal effects. It reminds me of that part in Fun.’s “We Are Young” where Nate Ruess tries to do a guitar solo with his voice and fails.
“Lord Knows” — Anna Mae = Ike and Tina Turner reference. That’s officially the fourth Ike/Tina abuse reference, at least that I caught. Catch the others at #22, #50, and #81.
“Look What You’ve Done” — This album is WAY too long. There are still, oh my God, four more songs?! I’m so tired. I won’t make you suffer like I have.
IS RS FULL OF IT?
Like it or not, Drake has earned his spot here. Remember when he broke that Beatles record with Scorpion? Drake is naught but a harbinger of things to come. Post Malone only exists because Drake allows him to.
