Drake is, without a doubt, one of the most emotional rappers around. That old YouTube joke people love to make goes something like "Drake made me think of a girl the smiled at me while I was buying groceries today," and is still funny even to this day. That started in the "Take Care" era, as the album expresses some very strong feelings Drake had towards women. And that's exactly what I like about him - he is real, he raps about things on his heart, not something that would please the audience and sell well. Especially during 2011, because that was his "emotional era". The albums before "Take Care" were kinda like "I made it, look at me now, haters," as well as the albums after that (except "Views", which was also very atmospheric and emotional record, at least to him, with the main focus being on his city, Toronto), so "Take Care" is really special in many ways.
The album starts with the song "Over My Dead Body" and contains one of my favorite verses "Jelaousy is just love and hate at the same time." Again, very slow, atmospheric, it kind of drags you in the record very well, prepares you for the rest of it. Piano with female voice in the background - that's the mood I'm talking about. There are also songs like "Headlines" on this record that are here for the turn up, with a very motivational approach to it. Drake here talks more about the materialistic things ("Money over everything, money on my mind"), so there you have the adversity and contrast, as well. But the songs I want to focus on, are the ones like "Marvin's Room" and "Crew Love" - true masterpieces in their own ways. "Marvin's Room" is one of the most honest and raw songs out there, even to this day. Zero compromises, not going commercial in any way, no producer entanglement... It's like Drake just picked up a paper and a pen after an emotional breakdown and spit out these words. "I'm just saying...you could do better..." - you can't make that for the audience, you can't put these words into a song just for it to sell well or to make other people happy... you put it out there for yourself, to relieve your soul, to ease your pain. And that's why Drake is one of the greatest musicians around. He is so versatile and honest. He is dominating the music scene with songs from "Views" made for masses, like for example "One Dance", and for those who don't enjoy "Views"... there is still this old Drake for us.
I mean, listen to those lyrics...
Cups of the Rose
Bitches in my old phone
I should call one and go home
I've been in this club too long
The woman that I would try
Is happy wit a good guy
But I've been drinking so much
That I'ma call her anyway and say
Fuck that nigga that you love so bad
I know you still think about the times we had
I say fuck that nigga that you think you found
And since you picked up I know he's not around
But, let's come back to the main topic here - "Take Care". Another thing I want to point out is - perfect, perfect featurings on this record. We have completely unknown The Weeknd at that time, a real refreshment on the record with his lovely voice, blending beautifully with Drake's voice and the instrumentals. I really enjoyed having him on the record. I also enjoyed Rihanna on the song "Take Care", because it was a really nice departure from the general idea of the album and something very different. You can't go wrong with Rihanna, she always makes things way more interesting... Then we also have Kendrick Lamar on the track "Buried Alive Interlude," which was very interesting and unexpected, probably because he actually sings the whole track, so there's no Drake here. Another interesting guest artist on the album is good old Lil Wayne in the song "The Motto" with probably the best verse ever - "Almost drowned in the pussy, so I swam to the butt." The song gained a lot of social media attention with that "YOLO - You Only Live Once" thing, but that Lil Wayne verse is what made the song for me... We also have to point out the Nicki Minaj feature on the track "Make Me Proud" in which she blended in perfectly and gave the song such a nice flavour. Even in 2011, Drake had some really good connections, because having Wayne and Nicki on your album is not easy to get. Anyways, if there is one thing that makes this album stand out, that would be the honesty of these lyrics, because you don't see that very often today. Rap songs are becoming more similar and similar, more repetitive than ever, with catchier choruses than ever. It's not very often you see a rapper opening up so publicly, especially with some really risky verses like on the song "Marvin's Room" that go like "I got some women that are living off me", in which Drake clearly says he pays everything for a couple of girls for who knows what reason. It could be blackmailing and he is being very open about it on this record. And that's what makes this record one of the best rap records of the decade for me. It stands out in the sea of very similar soulless rap albums of today, with such a special mood and emotional approach, with honesty.
