Drake's Take Care

The long-awaited sophomore album from Drake, titled Take Care, deals with a wide range of themes, from failed relationships to embracing life, and I must say that this album was definitely worth the wait. Take Care includes seventeen tracks, with two additional bonus tracks included in the deluxe edition.

As in his first studio album, Thank Me Later, Young Money label mates Nicki Minaj and Lil Wayne make appearances on Take Care, but their contributions seem to pale in comparison to some of the other artists featured on this album. In “Doing It Wrong,” a ballad describing the tragic end of a relationship, Stevie Wonder plays a soulful closing on the harmonica. The Weeknd makes an appearance on “Crew Love” and “The Ride,” while Rihanna sings the chorus of the album’s title track, “Take Care.” My personal favorite collaboration on Take Care would have to be “The Real Her,” in which André 3000 of Outkast and Lil Wayne have verses towards the end of the song.

The album seems to embody its title, the simple phrase “take care,” which makes an appearance in many of the songs, taking on a different meaning and connotation in each song. While there are many of the same catchy hits and clever rhymes that have made Drake famous, there’s also a deeper side to this album. “Look What You’ve Done” serves as a tribute to the women in Drake’s life: his mother, his aunt, and his grandmother. In “The Good Ones Go,” Drake addresses his own selfishness as he pleads with an ex to wait for him to mature before moving on to another guy.

This album has also been credited for popularizing the acronym “YOLO,” which stands for “you only live once” and is featured on two tracks on this album: “The Motto,” which features Lil Wayne, and “Lord Knows,” featuring Rick Ross. The phrase has been taken to heart as a motto for many people because it embodies the view of living life to the fullest and making the most of your time while you’re here because, after all, “you only live once.”

I have to admit that Take Care is one of the few albums I can listen to without skipping any tracks, which says a lot considering there are a whopping nineteen songs on my copy. Each song seems to blend effortlessly into the next, and the album encompasses a wide variety of subjects and moods. My only problem with Take Care was Drake’s constant bragging throughout many of the songs. As a Drake fan, I’ve gotten used to his somewhat inflated ego, but at times throughout the album, even I thought it was a bit obnoxious, such as his rather immature digs at an ex in “Shot for Me.”

Despite those few complaints, I would have to say that overall, I really enjoyed this album, and I feel like the subjects and emotions that this album covers are incredibly relatable. I only wish that some of the deeper songs on the album would be released because I feel like the singles that have been released so far aren’t really a good representation of the album as a whole and the aspects of Take Care that I have fallen in love with as a listener.

Suggested listening: "The Real Her," Kendrick Lamar's "Buried Alive" interlude, "Marvins Room."