Drake: Take Care
After I heard it, my heart stopped. That was it. That was what I anticipated for over a year. It was the hip-hop soundtrack to the film Titanic. It was basically the perfect R&B album, but stuck with a hip-hop label. Aubrey “Drake” Graham said Thank Me Later with an incredible debut and we all did. Now with his sophomore release of Take Care-that is exactly what I want to say as I leave this album at the bottom of my pile of disappointments.
Drake is talented, I give him that. He has a way with words and has the ability to do something that is becoming very rare in hip-hop- the ability to express emotion. But it is one thing to be lyrically sensitive and lyrically “emo.” Drake had a great balance of such feelings in his debut album, showcasing his swagger in “Over” and “Show Me a Good Time” while still being mindful of his vulnerability in “Find Your Love.” But in Take Care, there is a blurry line of being a rapper and being a vocal lyricist that is very distasteful. Every time I anticipated a collection of punch lines like I saw in his recent guest appearances (i.e. “It’s Good” in Tha Carter IV) all I got instead were endless shortcomings such as in “Headlines.” Drake, if you are reading this: please end this artistic identity crisis.
As far as sounds and producing, I found the album exploring low-tempo, sensuous, and dark sonic aesthetic beats and rhythm that only suggested such in fragments of his debut. Noah “40” Shebib, Boi-1da, T-Minus, Just Blaze, The Weeknd, and Jamie xx helped produce the sounds and much of their input can be responsible for its redundancy. Although the overall feel of the album was unique, every song felt like something that I would turn on to set the mood after a dinner date rather than crank up in a car on my way to the club. Absolutely no fair trade between club bangers and mood changers at all on this record, which makes it even harder for me to recant my continuous complaints.
Lyrically, Drake is a poet. He flows with depth and smoothness that makes you lighthearted and chill. Yet, that was the pace the entire time. No inflections. No contrasts. No surprises. Drake sticks to what he knows best and takes no real risks. The stories are all the same, just with a different beat that echoes the last. We are constantly reminded of this young multimillionaire’s failed romances, relationships with friends and family, growing wealth and fame, concerns about leading a hollow life, and despondency- and really do not have a reason why we should care. The collaboration with Rihanna on the title track only made me love her more and be aggravated with him for attempting to do what she does, which is pop and R&B.
I can honestly say that there is now a new genre for urban music. I declare it be called “hip-sop” (hip-hop combined with singing). Chris Brown, Trey Songz, and Drake are now the pioneers of such an invention. No longer should an artist specialize in their specific craft, but now duplicate others. We have seen Justin Bieber do it, and I guess it is now becoming a new trend. But what saddens me the most is that it is completely awful. Whoever told Chris Brown that he could flow?
What Drake does in this sophomore album is basically soften his reputation as a front runner in the league of dominating hip-hop artists. Even Nicki Minaj has more swag and edge than he does while she struts in a pink wig. The album would have been favorable if it was from an up incoming R&B pop star, but definitely not by platinum selling rapper who gave us a mixtape that forever changed the game of marketing stardom. Drake, I wanna thank you later when you give us a better third album, so please take care of that.
- Ernest Owens, Ernestly Speaking! (Saturdays 8 - 10 pm @ WQHS.org)
