I've always been very critical of Drake's work. Comeback Season was alright, So Far Gone was solid, and Thank Me Later was mediocre to me. Drake had a very poor 2010 in my opinion, and I think the reason for that was because he thought he had to be a rapper to sell records and stay relevant. Somewhere between the release of Thank Me Later and Take Care, he realized that at this point in his career, he is able to do whatever he wants musicially and it'll work. Drake ended up having an incredible year by leaking throwaway tracks such as Trust Issues and Club Paradise that were better than most artist's album work, and also by releasing my favorite retail album of 2011, Take Care.
This is an album that just about any young adult can relate to. On "Look What You've Done", Drake regrets being unappreciative of his relatives, realizing he was wrong and that he now owes them for making him the man he is today. On "Good Ones Go", he finds himself the right girl, but at the wrong time. He also provides a commentary on break-ups on "Doing It Wrong", which finds the artist in a position where both he and the girl know things aren't gonna work out, but they also aren't ready to stop seeing each other yet, even though he knows it's a bad idea. In correlation to the album title, Drake states: "I'm getting money just taking care of me, girl", a line that resonates throughout the entire album because while focusing on his career has led him to much success, it has also isolated him socially. Although many of the topics may seem unrelatable due to his wealth and fame, the core theme of the album is simply learning from past mistakes and turning those failures into success while dodging life's bullets along the way. That is something we all must go through, and for Drake it's also the best way to describe his transition from Thank Me Later to Take Care.
By the end of 2010, I was convinced that Drake would never put out a project better than So Far Gone. Fortunately, I was wrong. Take Care is Drake's best work to date, and with a little help from The Weeknd, I'm expecting him to do even better on his next solo release.
Favorite tracks: Good Ones Go (Interlude), Doing It Wrong, The Real Her