As many of you know, I've gotten a job at atrilli (which is one of the bigger hip-hop blogs on the net), so I won't be posting here much. At this point, I'm gonna be doing only review for dope albums/mixtapes. Anyways, here's the review for Drake's second album, "Take Care."
Tracklist:
1. Over My Dead Body - Drake starts off the album with a dope piano led beat, with a smooth chorus from the Canadian songstress, Chantal Kreviazuk. Drizzy speaks about his recent successes and about his mistakes in the game. He's very honest here and really gives you a great picture of his life in the game. My only complaint: he's got some sickk bars on that latest verse and then all the sudden he breaks off into some singing bullshit "oh so you think you a funny guyyyy." Really Drake.. you had to sing that bar and ruin your flow? Regardless, the track serves as an amazing intro.
3. Headlines - Wasn't ridiculously stoked about this single when it first dropped. But it fits with the album so I've started liking it more. The chorus is... not great. That first verse is good. The second one has got way too much singing. The beat grew on me. At first I hated it. It's probably the most hardcore instrumental on the album.
4. Crew Love (feat. The Weeknd) - This one's more of The Weeknd feat. Drake track but it's whatever... the beat is crazy good (thanks to The Weeknd's in house producer Illangelo). Those loud and fast cymbals switch the pitch soo perfectly. Without them the track woulda been too slow and boring. The Weeknd has got a great voice. Can't deny that, especially after hearing him on this one. Then Drake comes in with one of his better verses on the album, while the beat matches his rhymes with a different drum kit. Expect to hear this one in the clubs.
5. Take Care (feat. Rihanna) - Seems like Drake is lining up all the club songs at the very beginning. Don't expect too much from this one, it's gonna be a radio hit (trust me). Rihanna does a nice little chorus. Then Drake breaks off into song (what did you expect?). The beats a very clubby sound with some nice piano chords. That little interlude at the end of the song is fucking hilarious, with what sounds like two old guys talking ahaha. Anyways, this one's gonna be on replay on 94.9 in a few months.
6. Marvin’s Room - This song is gorgeous. "Marvins Room" is just about the only track with Drake singing that I like. The phone call on the chorus, the "I'm just saying you could do better"... everything about this track is well executed.
7. Buried Alive (Interlude) - Kendrick Lamar actually does this one. And he goes the fuck off. K. Dot lays down the best verse on the whole album.. on an interlude.
8. Under Ground Kings - Cool little tribute song to Pimp C & Bun B. This one is veryy southern. But then again, the whole album has got a more southern and dark sound compared to Drizzy's previous work. T-Minus (who is one of my favorite producers out right now) produces this one. Drake speaks on his struggles of "back in the day."
9. We’ll Be Fine - Another T-Minus produced track. First off, that bass line is dope. It caught my attention right away. I don't think I've ever heard an 808 slidee into the next note in the bass line. That was very creative. Drizzy's a little monotone here, but he's lyrically on point. And don't worry... Birdman doesn't actually have a feature (those of you looking at the album on iTunes and saying "Oh fuck. Drake let him have a guest verse?). All Birdman does is talk for the last minute of the song. I'll put the lyrics up for Birdman's verse (cuz I'm sure many of you will want them): "Yeah, Drizzy, yo turn n*gga, take care of the business n*gga (shine on these n*ggas), give these niggas the business nigga, kill spray anything in the way, n*gga, fuck em! we don't love em, yeah, it's just that uptown gangsta shit, Toronto, stand up, for one of the realest n*ggas, Drizzy, with the realest flow, toast to this gangsta shit, OVO-YMCMB, you understand me?, playing with these motherfucking millions like they ain't nothing, rubber band stacks, that YMCMB shit n*gga, flashy lifestyle, one hundred."
10. Make Me Proud (feat. Nicki Minaj) - Drake is seriously running against Kendrick Lamar for worst choruses on an album in 2011 (Section.80 was dope... but the hooks were god awful). Seriously though, did the guy who put this song together just take one of Drizzy's lines, cut out a part, put it on repeat, and call it a day and use that shit as the chorus? And Nicki Minaj... no comment. But let's get beyond the negativity. The beat was great (thanks T-Minus!), and Drake's flow was ill. I HATED this track when it first dropped. But it grew on me a bit.
11. Lord Knows (feat. Rick Ross) - Just Blaze makes dope beats. That's all I have to say about the music behind the rhymes. Drake gives his best punchlines on this one compared to any other song on "Take Care." He speaks on how he would die for his team and about what his haters and motivators do for him. The beat switches up perfectly for Rozay's verse, and Ross gives a boss-like verse.. typical Ricky.
12. Cameras/Good Ones Go (Interlude) - This has gotta be my favorite beats on the album. When the production credits first leaked, it was said that "Cameras" was co-produced by Lex Luger. Which isn't surprising, considering the fast snare taps and the heavy 808's. The vocal sample is great as well. Drake's verses are pretty good, but they sound lazy as fuckk. Drake's got a tendency to go superr monotone and he falls into that trap here. He also gives yet another shitty chorus. But the track is dope nonetheless. Drake's lyrics + the best beat on "Take Care" = solid track.... Oh and there's another song on this interlude. Uh well... It sucks. Cameras is the only one worth listening to.
13. Doing It Wrong (feat. Stevie Wonder) - Some people have said this one is boring. On first listen.. it is. The beat is gorgeous. Nuff said. It sounds like a church organ or something. I fucks with it. Drake does some singing here, and it's the only track on the album (other than "Marvin's Room") that I can fuck with his singing. But the best part is the last minute of the song. I give Drake hugee props for being really musical and letting a fucking harmonica be a feature on his album. Stevie Wonder has bars at that instrument. It's crazy that Stevie's part actually made this song.
14. The Real Her (feat. Lil Wayne & Andre 3000) - I gave a very negative review to this one earlier this month. The month has got a real southern ballad here. I still hate the singing on this one. I could live with it on two of the tracks. But at this point, he's sang for half the album. And this track wasn't even a good one to sing on (unlike Marvins Room). As I said before, Lil Wayne rocks a nice flow on a very short verse. Now unlike the leaked version, this one comes with a verse from one of the greatest rappers of all time, Andre 3000. Lemme tell you, Andre 3k gives on of the strangest verses I've heard this year... And by strangest, I mean best. Andre speaks on the issues of the female hierarchy, gives references to the Boise State field (crazy right?), and speaks on love. It's verses like these that make Andre 3k deserving of being in the top 10 emcees of all time.
15. Look What You’ve Done - Chase N. Cashe (of Surf Club) cooks up a dope beat here with some cool vocal samples, yet another soft piano line, and a dirty south influence drum beat (I'm telling you, Drake's turning into the next Bun B). Drake gives an extremely emotional verse about his troubles with his own mother, in maintaining income and her health while keeping their family ties. It's one of the realest and most unique verses I've heard in a while. He speaks on some stories of the mischief he got into during his childhood on the second verse. The chorus is very simple but it sounds nice. The song finishes off with a tearjerker of a message from his mother as an outro to the song. The song serves as a great change, considering a lot of his subject matter his been similar on the album. This one's easily the best lyrical song on the album due to Drake's storytelling and truthfulness... and it's my Favorite Song!!!
16. HYFR (Hell Ya Fuckin Right) [feat. Lil Wayne] - Another club song, and a very strange follow up to the last song. T-Minus is on the beat again. I actually don't really like this beat all that much, but it gets you pumped. I can't put my finger on what I don't like about the instrumental. I think (key word: think) that I dislike those synths in the background. They're wayy too whiny. Drake gives his best flow on the album with that first verse. Holy shit, Drake spits fire to start things off. Wayne continues the pattern of speedy rapping and tells a dope sex story. Drake does his thing, but Wayne outshines him by combining a nice flow, crafty punchlines, and an intriguing story.
17. Practice - This one's bad. Drake literally ruined Juvenile's "Back that Azz Up." I'm not doing a review for this shit.
18. The Ride (feat. The Weeknd) - This one was Drake's favorite track on the album. The beats a very simple combination of various vocal recordings of The Weeknd's singing and a simple drum-kit. Drake speaks on the various challenges he's had to face while he's experienced fame. It's interesting how he hates the expression "I feel you"... just a weird thing to hate... Anyways I'm lovin' the outro to this song. Very Smooth. Pretty good track Drizzy's given us here.
19. Hate Sleepin' Alone- Althought the title looks corny as fuck, the song actually goes. 40 hits us with a very smooth beat.. like it sounds like the type of thing they would play in an aquarium. That's how smooth this bitch is. Drake gives some stories about his struggles with the ladies. At first listen, the chorus sounds like garbage. But it grows on you. I'd go as far to say that the chorus may even be beautiful. Not sure why I fuck with this one so much, but I just do.
20. The Motto (feat. Lil Wayne) - Here's the thing... I would suggest in getting the remix. Cuz Tyga goes THE FUCK OFF! Here's my review for "The Motto (Remix) [feat. Lil Wayne & Tyga)" in case you missed it.
Well. Drake put together quite a project here. I wasn't expecting anything from "Take Care" and Drizzy ended up putting out one of the better albums of this year. There was only two songs I skipped through (that's good for me, because I'm ridiculously picky with music). Sure, it has it's downsides. He sang a little too much (but nothing that hurts the album in a huge way). Maybe he coulda gotten rid of that "Shot for Me" track or added a rapped verse to "The Real Her." But don't get me wrong, I'm not a complete hater of Drake singing. He did a hell of a job with Marvins Room or the Stevie Wonder track. I think the thing that bugs me most about his singing, is when he interrupts the flow to one of his raps to sing one line. It just kills the mood.
My only other issue was Drake's subject matter, and this problem didn't come into play too often. But when it did, he tended to rap about the same damn two things: bitches and fame. And it wasn't even about how much fame or ass he got. It was how much he struggled with fame or how hard it was to be committed when you're a celebrity. I don't know.. I just can't feel bad for him when he spits about that shit. Drake, no one is gonna be able to "feel you" on those issues. No one else has to go through that. Just spit about your childhood or do some storytelling like you did on "The Ride" or "Look What You've Done." Now THAT would make this album perfect.
And to close off, I'm gonna be the first to make the inevitable comparisons between this album and his debut, "Thank Me Later." This album actually had a lot more solo songs on it (which is nice because in this day and age, artists tend to have a ton of features on their albums). And the solo songs on "Take Care" were wayyy better than the ones on TML. So clearly Drake's a lot better at holding his own. As for his lyrics, I thought his subject matter was better on TML but there weren't any standouts on TML. "Take Care" had quite a few tracks with "ehhh" subject matter but then there were also some really fantastic lyrical tracks. So TC's ups were better than TML's. As for the beats.. TC shitted on TML. 40 and T-Minus served as perfect accusations for Drizzy as they cooked up some dope, Southern influenced beats. Also, TC flowed more as album than TML. TML felt like a bunch of singles just sorta pushed together.
So in conclusion, was TC better than TML? Well, TC was a lot darker than TML. And I personally like dark sounds and albums. But the better beats, more cohesive feel, solo tracks, and standout tracks all help TC solidify it's place as Drake's best album. In fact, "Take Care" is easily in my top 10 albums of this year, because of it's large amount of musicality. Congrats Drizzy, you took me by surprise.
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