Drake’s 2011 album, Take Care, defines his iconic status within the hip-hop industry. The album itself sees Drake explore vulnerability, struggles with fame and difficulties in his past relationships. It is widely regarded as one of the best albums on Drake’s entire discography, with it able to seamlessly blur the line between rap and R&B. 

Take Care was Drake’s third album – two years before ‘Nothing Was The Same’ in 2013 and just a year following the hugely successful ‘Thank Me Later’. ‘Take Care’ was co-produced by Drake, 40 (Noah Shebib) and featured artists like The Weeknd, Kendrick Lamar and Rihanna. 

It’s a popular opinion amongst Drake fans, including myself, that ‘Take Care’ is his single best album. For me, this is largely down to the fact that not a single song on the album is mediocre. Each song is a journey through Drake’s past – the stories he tells and the emotions we feel towards them are unlike that of any other album by Drake. 

One song that steals the spotlight for me, it’d be the final (standard) track on the album – The Ride. Some may call this pick niche, particularly with it having an underwhelming 88M streams on Spotify, however Drake’s flawless rapping ability paired with The Weeknd’s ethereal singing makes for a beautiful melody.  

‘The Ride’ takes us through a journey of Drake’s career thus far, providing an insight into how he perceives his wealth and fame. He begins the song with, “I hate when people say they feel me, man” – immediately distancing himself from his audience and rather sending a message for us to listen, rather than try to resonate. In the second verse, he follows on to recall when you (he), “stole your mother’s credit card so you maintain an image, and ride around in overpriced rental cars that ain’t tinted”. Here, he looks back on his past to show us how foolish and immature he was, but the lack of regret in his tone may say he still wouldn’t think twice to flaunt the ridiculous amount of money he has. Nonetheless, the beat drop after this line is one not to miss. To close off the song (and the album), he says, “my junior and senior will only get meaner – take care”. Again, according to Genius, Drake is implying that, with ‘Take Care’ being his ‘sophomore’/second album, that the two following on will only be better. Those two albums earned a combined 7x Platinum.  

It should be clear that I highly recommend listening to this album. If you’re into a blend of R&B and rap music, the chances are that you’ve already heard (and hopefully loved) ‘Take Care’, because of how defining it was for this industry. But on the off chance you haven’t, this would be a great time to discover what is and will remain an all-time legendary album.