The day has finally arrived. Drake is set to release his greatly anticipated album Take Care on November 15th. The pop world is on its toes ready for what their contingency would contend is a classic; The hip-hop world is on its toes preparing for another hit on it’s once anti-establishment aura. Rappers are looking for new material to “inspire” them; Emcees are waiting for new beats to jack and new material to trash Drake with. Radio stations are preparing for their next set of Young Money tracks to flood the market with, and hip hop heads could care less. In other words, anyone who is slightly involved with the hip hop community is aware of this impending release.
There is no debate that, financially speaking and play-wise, Drake is one of the most successful artists in the game right now. There is also no doubt that this album will climb into the top five and experience an inane amount of radio plays and other media exposure. I will not sit here and argue against the fact that Drake is going to do very well with this album. But, when Drake takes it upon himself to crown himself as the king of hip hop then make the bold claim that he is now the best rapper alive, I will argue against that point till I am blue in the face.
Financial success is by no means indicative of musical quality. Infinite by Eminem sold 200 copies and is quite possibly the most incredible work of flow and lyricism Eminem has ever produced. Financial success merely means someone has deep enough pockets and knows enough peopl influential in the music market. Anyone who denies this is either naïve or happily ignorant.
However, seeing as this is a review, let us dive into the album and begin to dissect. I’ll start first by getting into the production so all the Drake fans out there don’t label me as a “hater.” The production on this album is well done. The lyrical concepts match with the beats and create a product that won’t cause a headache if played in the background. There’s no over use of instrumentation or vocal transformation to make the album sound overly synthetic or robotic, but that’s to be expected when one is working with, quite possibly, the most powerful label in the game right now, Young Money Cash Money Billionaires.
The two big names on this album, with regards to production, are Just Blaze and Lex Luger. Both provide Take Care with beats that are on par with their other projects in the past. The instruments on this album will most likely feature many a rappers on mixtapes and remixes in the upcoming months which will speak to the quality of it’s production. So let me make this clear, I am a fan of the beats on this album.
Unfortunately for Drake though, when I listen to a hip hop album I pay attention to the lyrics. The lyrical substance of this album can be summed up in a sentence, “I have money, cars, and fame and I like to pursuit different types of women, so the people who don’t like me get jealous.” The fact you can more or less sum up a whole albums worth of lyrical content in less than 25 words should speak volumes about the project. It should also speak to where the industry is at when this is considered to be the best product out there.
Yes, there are witty lines and somewhat clever similes throughout the album, but when you get into the subject matter of the songs it just all feels very empty. Drake takes no time to stay true to hip hop's original doctrine of fighting “the system", talking about societal injustices, or providing personal introspection. And before anyone says how “that’s old school” or “that’s not how the game is anymore” I would like to pose a few questions.
Will there ever come a day when Tupac’s art becomes outdated? Will Biggie’s flow and stories be any less infectious and eye opening? Will NWA’s in your face lyrics be any less revealing of the realities of their time and city? Will the words of Slug become any less true in five years? The point I am trying to get at is if Drake wasn’t dropped in the middle of an era where money and vehicles were more important than societal advancement and intellectual processes in hip hop, this man would not sell.
Drake does what sells, point and blank. That does not make him a great artist and it does not make him a good rapper. The fact that there is more “aaaaaaw”-ing and singing than rapping on a rap album is a complete joke. I do not really recall a classic hip hop album featuring more singing than rapping in the history of the artform.
Some may say that Drake is redefining what it means to be a complete artist. To me however, it feels like Drake is doing the things Wayne wanted to do but couldn’t accomplish with auto-tune alone. He also realizes that young adults who are caught up in sexual angst and swagger run the market, and therefore sexual angst and swagger will sell. There is very little heart and soul in this album. It is completely market and money driven, and therefore the artistic integrity of this album ranks pretty low.
I can hear the Drake fans saying, “but Jordan, he opens up his heart and talks about women and love on this album.” True, Drake does have many a heart throb song in the album, but considering that most every successful pop artist spends time talking about lust and flings, this should be more of a clue to Drake’s intentions as opposed to genuine emotion.
Yes, Drake is a talented entertainer. He can sing, dance, and melt a heart with his Degrassi-learned stare. But when it comes to being a hip hop artist, the pen is the most important aspect. I point to the song “Practice” on this album to demonstrate Drake’s penmanship. For those of you with a memory that last longer than 5 minutes, you might recognize the instrumentation and lyrics are directly taken from Juvenile’s classic “Back that *** up.” The only talent Drake uses on this track is his ability to recognize greatness and copy it.
Dead Prez should come to mind right about now for the hip hop heads that are all too aware of Drake’s “abilities.” This swagger jacking wouldn’t be so much of a problem as long as Drake wouldn’t come out with ridiculous lines about how his flow is impeccable and how great he is. But as long as Drake continues to insist upon his greatness, there will bea crowd of hip hop heads out there like myself to shed some light on this subject.
Summing up this album is simple. It is not real hip hop. It will not be placed among the classic albums of the past. Its lyrical substance is shallow, but the production is good. In other words, dedicated Drake fans and biased detractors are unlikely to change their opinions on the man. Drake does what he has become known for and so beloved in the mainstream for. If you like Drake you will like this album. If you do not like Drake you will not like this album. However, the real test of this album lies in the opinions of those of us well learned and involved in the TRUE hip hop community. Personally, as one of those people, this album is terrible.
I give Take Care a C-. It’s well done from a production side but the lyrical content is too simple and redundant. But if you’re a Drake fan go and get it. You’ll love it.
