Take Care [Explicit]

Drake | Format: MP3 Download

Product Details

• Original Release Date: November 15, 2011
• Release Date: November 15, 2011
• Label: Cash Money Records/Young Money Ent./Universal Rec.
• Copyright: (C) 2011 Cash Money Records Inc.
• Record Company Required Metadata: Music file contains unique purchase identifier. Learn more.
• Total Length: 1:20:18
• Genres:
• Format: Explicit Lyrics
• ASIN: B0065IA4F2
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (150 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #152 Paid in MP3 Albums (See Top 100 Paid in MP3 Albums)
  • #11 in MP3 Downloads > MP3 Albums > Rap & Hip-Hop

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfecting His Formula, November 15, 2011

By 

Q. Pair "Shaman" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Take Care [Deluxe Edition] (Audio CD)

If I had to sum up Take Care in one word, I would say its growth. If theres one thing that Drake has shown us since he came into the rap game, its that he is, if nothing else, consistant. He has a formula: Rap a lot, sing a little, do a hook here and there, and bam, you've got Drake's whole catalogue in less that one sentence. Thats not necessarily a bad thing, and in the case of Take Care, Drake seems to focus more on perfecting his forumla rather than expanding it, while still showing us that he's gotten better.

First and foremost, I was happy to see 17 tracks on here, all of which are music, no skits. Thats a big plus for me. But anyway, back to the topic. Drake has never been lacking when it comes to lyrical ability, and he certainly seems to have stepped his game up on this album. With songs like "Under Ground Kings" and "Lord Knows", we see Drake really flexing those lyrical muscles. He even steps away briefly from his standard pacing and monotone flow and unleashes a flury of rhymes at once with what seems like little breathing involved on HYFR ("Hell Yeah F****ng Right") feat. Lil Wayne. Even on the slower songs, overall, they are lyrically solid.

While Drake does have a healthy dose of banger worthy tracks, there are a good number of slow songs on the album and may or may not sit well with the average hip hop head. One of Drake's biggest criticisms is that he flip flops between singing and rapping too much, and that he can easily slip right into R&B mode and kill whatever head nodding vibe he managed to create two song ago. While he DOES go pretty R&B mode for a bit, he keeps those songs close together ("Doin It Wrong", and "The Real Her feat. Lil Wayne & Andre 3000",) while the rest of the songs are more of his rapping with the occasional singing on the hook. Standard Drake formula.

A great high point of this album is easily the production. Drake has consistantly shown that he has good taste in the beats that he uses, and after having heard the CD a few times now, I cant find one that I dont like. Grandted, some are better then others, but overall there are no throwaway beats, and each one seems to be handcrafted to fit Drake, his style of writing, and solidifies the feel of the song. Also, while features were moderate, I think they were all well done, with a possible exception for Kendrick Lamar's part on the "Marvin's Room/Buried Alive Interlude" and Andre 3000 on "The Real Her". Kendrick himself is an awsome rapper, but his part on "Marvin's Room" just seemed out of place and weird to hear after the song had played. And 3 Stacks' addition to "The Real Her" seemed equally awkward, like his heart wasnt in it (which it probably wasnt).

The only downside I can really say there is to Take Care is the same one that was present in Thank Me Later: content. While Drake is a phenomenal song writer, he really leaves much to be desired in the area of subject matter. The summation of all of Drake's entire catalogue, including his mixtape material, is: I love this girl, I wanna f*** this girl, this girl broke my heart, I broke a lot of girl's hearts, I'm awsome and rich, I love girls. Yeah, thats pretty much the whole album right there. Now, even though I would like to see Drake branch out and write outside of his comfort zone, I do applaud the fact that he doesnt try to touch on things he knows nothing anything about, since that would sound stupid. His songs, while monotomous in subject matter feel honest and sincere, and if nothing else, very relatable. Doing It Wrong is just resonating with me right now.

As a whole, I believe that Take Care is in fact an improvement of the standard formula Drake has made for himself for constructing an album. It will by no means change the minds of nay sayers, nor will it make his fans love him any less. Its just more of the same thing that made him successful. Hopefully he will learn to expand his horizons a bit in the near future and talk about different things (he got a good start with his touching tribute to his mom on Look What You've Done") but I wont get my hopes up. But as long as he's putting out quality music, I'm not too bothered by it. If you like Drake, pick up a copy, its worth it.

Favorite Tracks:

Lord Knows feat. Rick Ross (Awsome beat!)

Under Ground Kings (Awsome beat, great display of lyrical ability)

Doing It Wrong (Relationship issues you've either dealt with before, or will in the future)

Look What You've Done (Great tribute to his mom)

Over My Dead Body (Real chilled beat, great opening track)

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Drake is Drake, not pac, public enemy, rakim, etc. Get used to it., November 23, 2011

By 

The Daynos (Chicago, IL, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Take Care [Deluxe Edition] (Audio CD)

So first of all, Drake is Drake. This is his 2nd major release and he has quite a few lesser known releases from a few years ago. Anyone who claims to be a hip hop head and then gets mad that this cd isn't as hip hop as they expected, then what can i tell you? Well, i could tell you that you're simply not a hip hop head. Anyone who knows anything about hip hop can tell you off the bat that yes, Drake can spit, but that isn't his only talent and he isn't interested in making a rap album. Most of his songs feature him singing whether on auto tune or with some other kind of voice enhancement. I've seen him in concert and can tell you that he's not a very good singer without the digital help. But lucky for us, he (like most of today's r&b acts) is smart enough to use these enhancements on the cd. He isn't a thug, he isn't from the streets, and he isn't a battle rapper or a free styler. However, too many people are interested in comparing him based on those attributes instead of just laying back and listening to this cd.

You know who you are so i'll stop there.

As far as this cd goes, it's real addicting, mainly because of the hooks and the beats. The beats are top notch. Production is so solid and goes perfect with Drake. The guest spots for the most part are solid too, except for the last few bars from nicki minaj.

I really like this cd but i'm gonna compare it to his previous works, simply because while Drake has definitely matured in his last couple of cd's, he has a certain sound that sticks with him throughout. And it's easier to compare this cd with his previous cd's instead of comparing him to wu-tang, biggie, or some ridiculous sh* like that.

As far as the full cd comparison/rating goes, gotta say that the beats on this one completely murder his previous cd's. And the way he strings the songs along as far as sounding unstructured but not unfocused, it's all perfect. Best beats are Crew Love, Cameras, The Real Her.

Lyrically, this cd is probably his worst. (not bad at all, but not as good as his last two) He sounds a lot more bitter and sad on this one than his previous two, and definitely not as creative. So Far Gone you could tell he was optimistic. Thank Me Later he was about living it up with his fame. Now on Take Care, he's about addressing the haters. And don't get me wrong, i love revenge and he does it well (especially on Take a Shot For Me = masterpiece). But what happened to the party songs where you just hear that track and you think wow i want to feel that good about my life too? Drake isn't even talking good about women anymore. "Shut it Down" from Thank Me Later was such a great song for the women. "Fancy" showed his appreciation for women who get it themselves while still beign a bangin track. This cd has none of that. All the songs about women are really like breakup songs and revenge songs, or telling a girl hey you gotta deal with my problem so either deal with it or don't. And all of the party songs have some touch of rubbing it in to the people hating on the sidelines. I agree with many reviewers here who think that the young money crew is bringing Drake down. The track HYFR was unnecessary. It's real sloppy and sounds more like a mix tape track. Real weak hook that has nothing to do with the verses, which may be common for many rappers but definitely not Drake. With Drake, I expect the hook, bridge, verses, all to tell the same story. HYFR is just all over the place, doesn't make sense to me. The Rick Ross guest spot wasn't bad but I don't think it added anything to that song. Seemed just like a spot to advertise for Rick Ross. Same with Nicki Minaj's last few lines on her song. Weak.

I disagree with a lot of reviewers on here when it come to the song "Practice". I love this song, think it's a good way to remix a classic. I like the message on here, it's really the only positive song he has on here towards women, well it is in comparison to the rest of this cd.

The happiest song on this cd is probably the most emo track, which is the one with his mom on it, which is trendy right now for rappers to do, but he pulls it off well.

Right now i'm jamming to this cd mainly for the beats and the mood. When I want more lyrical drizzy, i'll throw Thank Me Later or So Far Gone in the deck. I don't see this cd being a classic like a lot of you do, sorry. I just know how old I am and throughout time, you get to realize that most artists only have one or two classic cd's and the rest you can appreciate but you will skip over when you're in the mood to hear that artist. In 20 years, we won't be reaching for this cd, we'll be reaching for So Far Gone probably. There are definitely exceptions to that rule, but this cd is not one of them. Good, even Great cd here. But no classic. 4 stars.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Take the time to listen..., November 18, 2011

By 

WDW "The Truth" (Notre Dame, IN) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Take Care [Deluxe Edition] (Audio CD)

Drake has grown so much since his last album ... because it is so deep ... give it some time to sink in before you judge the album.

I listened to the album a few times ... first I liked the beginning of the album the best ... then it was the the last few songs of the album ... then it was the middle ... then I thought about it and it hit me ... the whole album is fire.

Favorite Songs
Lord Knows - sick production
Practice - love the Juvenile salute