![]() ![]() It’s just one of many highlights - the It’s Yourz sampling “Wu Tang Forever” trading in Wu Grit for WD-40 Polish, the beautiful Too Much with its submerged Sampha vocals, and Pound Cake/ Paris Morton Music 2, where Jay-Z manages to assemble a rap using various forms of cake. The video may be overblown and clichéd, but the song itself provides a breath of fresh air in the current staid and cluttered Top-40 musical landscape. It's not witty, or even trying to be, but heartfelt and uncomplicated Drake at his best, with Majid Jordan's Jai Paul BTSTU -esque croons in all the right places. ![]() Hold On We're Going Home is possibly the best thing he's ever done, the heavy hitting 4/4 kick and snare covered by reverbed organ providing an anthemic feel. There's the usual R&B crooning present in spades, but Drake always knows the right time and place to utilise a hook, something that is rightly praised about his output and provides his edge. Just look at the furor and discussion surrounding Kendrick Lamar's Control verse, but at the end of the day isn't that what rap should be about? Striving for perfection and being better than your peers, even if you have to metaphorically "kill" your fellows to reach that hallowed place? Drake’s raps never quite reach the heights of Lamar's: such is his truly mind blowing cadence and ability to write verses that posses triple meanings upon analysis, but Drake’s flexibility is his weapon and that's always been his strength, which is evident throughout the album. " Niggas talk more than bitches these days". Drake seems a bit too proud when he repeats this epiphany and proclaims, "Just let that shit sink in" on sparse cut Own It, but it's the truth. He may not be the most talented rapper out there, perhaps the Gary Neville of hip-hop (a bizarre image I know), but he's built himself an empire complete with the trophies to go with it where 40 is his co-ruler and enabler of his visions. That's Drake to the core, a perfectionist unafraid of putting the hours and work in to achieve his goals. Just before the third kicks in, Drake exclaims, "How much time is this nigga spendin' on the intro?” and then spits over the best beat of the three. Proceedings are kicked off with Tuscan Leather, fairly unique in the fact that the beat doesn't just switch once, but twice. Nothing Was the Same is somewhat a different prospect, further refined and with less fat on its bones, clocking in at a more reasonable 13 tracks totaling under 60 minutes compared to Take Care's 18 and 80. With the help of Noah “40” Shebib, a more considered approach and a cornucopia of producing talent, Take Care had near perfect command of mood in its tonal shifts, demonstrating both Graham's refined rapping confidence and his ear for a hook. Drake’s boast on pre-album single 5AM in Toronto about his ability to make song a hit seems perfectly reasonable looking at these statistics: just how many artists have recently ridden his coattails (presumably designer) to fame aided by one of his guest verses?īucking the trend of difficult sophomore releases, Take Care was in fact a superior product to its predecessor and rushed debut So Far Gone. Not a bad place to be for someone still only 26 years of age. ![]() 1 hits on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart with 11. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot Rap Songs chart with fourteen, and similarly as a rap artist, the most No. Started from the bottom now we here: much has been made of the bottom, and I’d been an arse to discuss it further, but where exactly is the here? A Best Rap Album Grammy for 2011's Take Care, two platinum selling albums, the record number of No. Drake Nothing Was the Same (Cash Money / Young Money Entertainment / Universal Republic)
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