Drake‘s new album Take Care came out today. Visit http://extraordinaryfigures.com for a review and to purchase it. Let me just start by saying this album is incredible and I think is better than his Thank Me Later album, but it is susceptible to getting a lot of hate. I say that because this album has a lot of Drake singing, and although I personally like this and think it makes him so much more creative, a lot of people are gonna be talking crap. This album is about 40-50% R&B, which is a very bold move for Drake to make. He knew there would be a lot of haters with this album, but he still made the music he wanted to make, and I really respect that.
Take Care includes features from Kendrick Lamar, Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, Andre 3000, Rick Ross, The Weeknd, Rihanna, Birdman, and even Stevie Wonder. Most of these features are amazing. Andre 3000 is always telling great stories on his verses. Kendrick Lamar goes off in the “Buried Alive Interlude”. Nicki Minaj does a great verse on “Make Me Proud”. Lil Wayne is on multiple songs and does a very catchy hook for “HYFR”. Stevie Wonder does a harmonica solo on “Doing It Wrong” and apparently contributed on the creative direction of the album.
Drake tells us a lot of stories with his songs, which is one of the reasons we all love him. In “Look What You’ve Done” he is thanking a couple of the people who helped him get to where he is, which I really respect and think is very humble of him to do. In “Marvin’s Room”, which was very well received, especially considering it is one of his R&B songs, he is telling a story about drunk-dialing his ex. In “Doing It Wrong”, we get a very heartfelt break-up song, where the girl is heartbroken and he basically just wants to get out of there, saying to stay would be “the wrong thing to do”. To me, it is just a cop out and him making up an excuse not to deal with the pain he caused her, but whether I agree with what he does or not, I respect that he is really telling what he feels.
This album also has amazing production and some really good beats. There are no songs that really stand out to me as being one of the best beats I have heard lately, but all of them are solid. Most of the album was produced by Drake’s long term producer and best friend Noah “40? Shebib. “Cameras” and “The Motto” have some really dope, hype beats.
Drake also has some amazing verses and catchy hooks that I love on Take Care. In “Under Ground Kings” he has some crazy verses and even samples from Lil Wayne’s “Duffle Bag Boy”, which was really dope. In “Practice” he samples from Juvenile’s “Back That Ass Up”, and turned it into a totally new and creative song. Drake does a lot of sampling of other people’s music on this album but always turns it into something completely new. He is so creative on this album. Go to http://extraordinaryfigures.com/?p=2898 to buy the album.
