My boy recently asked me my take on the new Drake. So I gave it to him. Remembering that that's what blogs are for, I am Now giving it to you:
On Take Care, Drizzy Drake simply maintains. This album has a lot more
slow cuts than his previous work, or any other notable hip hop
record. Although the beats have slowed, his talent for lyricism
hasn’t waned. It hasn’t improved, but it hasn’t gotten worse. A lot
of times, when artists reach the level of success that he has, whether it be
the pressure to repeat, or the cockiness that comes with fame, the very thing
that makes them talented becomes distorted and a watered-down version of
itself. But with Drake’s lyrics, he’s proven on Take Care, that it’s hard
to improve on something that is almost perfect.
The features are nice. Rihanna’s is wasted
on Take Care. The song is good, but not epic. His best flow comes
on the Rick Ross collabo, which, oddly enough, seems to be who Drake REALLY
shines with. It is that song, and probably only that song, which will
really have legs on radio. This album has ended up being another ART
piece, a good one at that, but not meant for commercial consumption, although,
with the loyalty of Drake fans, I imagine he’s not concerned about his
sales. But with all the slow-cuts and the lack of hot hooks, you have to
wonder how this album will perform live. The Stevie Wonder feature is
memorable and well-used. It’s nice to here Three Stacks again, yet you
gotta feel like his heart may not be in it. Chantal Kreviazuk surprises
on the heralding opening track, another possible single. This album,
however, does not move the crowd or get backbones sliding. It is,
none-the-less interesting, and a good listen. Drake’s already starting to
talk about his next project, which could be a collabo album with Rick
Ross. Now, I am not a Rick Ross fan, but the production he employs from
such heavyweights as Just Blaze and more notably, the J.U.S.T.U.S. League,
seems to be one of Drake’s hottest jump off points (Aston Martin Music was
probably the best hip-hop joint of last year), so I am looking forward to more
noise being made there than here. That is my review.
The Best of 2011 Review Coming Soon... Stay Tuned
- Sexyblack
