Pop-Conscious: Drake-Take Care

From our second-favorite Degrassi alum (all praise be to Jake Epstein) comes Drake's second record, Take Care. In a year where we were not graced with Kanye West's presence (Watch the Throne does not count), Drake is an acceptable and at times magnificent substitute. The record is unsurprisingly polarizing (similar to any Ye record), and finds Drake mining his own inner thoughts to produce some of the most self-aware pop/rap/R&B that will invade the public consciousness this year. However, I can't help but be troubled by the thought that while Take Care is technically proficient and creative, it might not be all that much fun to listen to.

The production on Take Care has been lauded for good reason. "Look What You've Done" is emotional and raw but I don't know how many times you could sit through it. [1. "It's like '06 in your backyard, I'm in love with Jade / And I'm still in love, just when it's that real is when it doesn't fade / And my father living in Memphis now -- he can't come this way / Over some minor charges and child support that just wasn't paid / Damn, boo-hoo, sad story, black American dad story".] Still, there are little touches of brilliant production all over Take Care which keep the lengthy record from growing stale. The way producer Noah "40" Shebib kills the piano chord reverberations on "The Real Her" is stunning. Drake's lyrics are up to the task as well, as he tells us: "Live for today / plan for tomorrow / party tonight / party tonight." And while "Shot for Me" is an sigh-inducing traditional track (if only because we know Drake is capable of more), the last 30 seconds are amazing the way the Shebib plays with the synth. Also notable is the Shebib/Drake/The Weeknd combination on "Crew Love" where Drake sets the scene ("smoking weed under star projectors / I guess we'll never know what Harvard gets us") and then the reverberating synths and cymbals (done with meticulous care--you can hear the symbals move up and down a scale) take over.



Whereas Kanye tended to use a sledgehammer to demolish the current pop/rap consciousness, Drake takes a scalpel and extracts what he wants from it. Drake is at his best when he's at his most minimal, taking none of the over-used and bloated traditional rap tropes. So while Ye's sledgehammer resulted in marvelous bombast, Drake's scalpel is nearly silent in its maliciousness. "Marvin's Room" has all of the intimacy of Kanye with none of the cacophony (though at times the song sounds a lot like 808s and Heartbreak). That's not a plus or a minus. Or maybe it's both. Stark production on "Doing it Wrong" highlights Drake's raw emotions but also features 80s synths mixed with harmonica. And, amazingly, it works.



The most disappointing thing about Take Care is that the most energetic moments on the record turn out to be the most boring. "Headlines" sounds like a Kanye B-side with Drake auto-tuning his voice to poor effect. I find myself completely distracted by the end of the song. "Cameras" suffers from a similar fate. Drake's flow is frustratingly lazy and the production fails to hold up its end of the bargain (rare for this record, which is immaculately produced otherwise). Drake's soliloquy on the opening track "Over My Dead Body" rings false at worst and trite at best. These ruts keep Take Care from me entertaining any thoughts of it being some sort of masterstroke.



Luckily, it looks like the next single will be "Make Me Proud," which features Nicki Minaj with a blushingly clever and vulgar verse. Speaking of which, Drake does a better job with his guest stars than Kanye has in the past. While the guest rappers on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy were at best distracting and at worst unlistenable, Drake coaxes a hell of a verse out of Andre 3000 on "The Real Her."[1. "Niggas that are married don't wanna go home / We look up to them, they wish they were us / They want some new trim / We lust for some trust / Now the both of us are colorblind / Cause the other side looks greener...Well, sitting here sad as hell / Listening to Adele, I feel you baby / Someone like you, more like someone unlike you / Or someone that's familiar maybe / And I can tell that she wants a baby / And I can yell "Girl, that shit crazy!".] Drake himself is clever throughout the record, though my favorite is on the title track, where he quips "it's my birthday and I'll get high if I want to." This record is the consequence of that attitude, for good and for bad. It couldn't be any other way.