Quick Verdict
Take Care arrived on November 15, 2011, and is Drake’s finest album — a 73-minute, 18-track statement that cemented his singular position as the dominant commercial and cultural figure in early 2010s rap. Produced by Noah ‘40” Shebib, Boi-1da, Hit-Boy, and others, the album’s production aesthetic — hazy, atmospheric, built on chopped vocal samples and 808s draped in reverb — created a sonic world so distinctive it spawned an entire subgenre of imitators. It debuted at number one with 631,000 first-week copies and went triple platinum, winning the Grammy for Best Rap Album. “Marvins Room” is among the most emotionally raw performances in rap. “Look What You’ve Done” is the most personal and vulnerable track of his career. “Take Care” with Rihanna is one of the finest duets in modern rap. Rating: 9/10.
At a Glance
| Category | Verdict |
|---|---|
| Overall Rating | 9/10 |
| Best Song | "Marvins Room" |
| Weakest Song | "Crew Love" |
| Best Feature | Rihanna |
| Best Beat | "Marvins Room" |
| Main Sound | Toronto / 40-Produced / Atmospheric R&B-Rap |
| Replay Value | Very High |
| Recommended For | Drake at his most emotionally raw and sonically distinctive |
Album Details
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Artist | Drake |
| Album | Take Care |
| Release Date | November 15, 2011 |
| Label | Young Money / Cash Money / Republic |
| Producers | Noah "40" Shebib, Boi-1da, Hit-Boy, T-Minus, The Weeknd |
| Featured Artists | Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne, The Weeknd, André 3000 |
| Number of Tracks | 18 |
| First Week Sales | 631,000 (debuted #1) |
| Grammy | Best Rap Album (2013) |
| Final Rating | 9/10 |
Context: Drake’s Finest Album
Thank Me Later (2010) had introduced Drake’s commercial potential without fully delivering on his artistic promise. Take Care was the album that resolved that tension: a record that matched his commercial ambitions with a genuinely distinctive artistic vision and a production sound — developed with Noah ‘40” Shebib, his longtime collaborator and the architect of the hazy, atmospheric Toronto sound — that was immediately recognisable and widely imitated. 40’s production style on Take Care is the most formally distinctive sound in mainstream rap since Kanye’s chipmunk-soul aesthetic on The College Dropout: chopped vocal samples, 808s buried in reverb, melodies that feel submerged and melancholy, and a textural warmth that makes even the record’s most emotionally devastating moments feel intimate rather than cold. The album’s emotional range is Drake’s widest: “Marvins Room” is the most emotionally raw drunk-dial performance ever recorded; “Look What You’ve Done” is a devastating family portrait that is his most personal and formally unguarded track; the title track with Rihanna is a duet of considerable emotional complexity. André 3000’s verse on “Best I Ever Had” is the album’s most technically concentrated guest contribution. The album won the Grammy for Best Rap Album and went triple platinum.
Track-by-Track Review (Key Tracks)
| Track | Quick Review |
|---|---|
| Over My Dead Body | The album's most sonically atmospheric and thematically focused opener. 40's production is at its most immediately distinctive. Drake establishing the album's emotional register. Essential. |
| Shot for Me | Drake at his most melancholic and confessional. A meditation on the cost of success to his relationships. One of the album's most emotionally unguarded solo performances. Essential. |
| Headlines | The album's hardest and most commercially direct track. Drake's most declaratory and competitive verse on the record. One of his finest pure rap performances. Essential. |
| Marvins Room | The album's greatest track and one of the most emotionally raw performances in modern rap. A late-night drunk-dial narrative over 40's most submerged and atmospheric production. Essential. |
| Buried Alive Interlude (ft. Kendrick Lamar) | Kendrick's guest verse is the album's most technically precise and lyrically dense guest contribution. An interlude that functions as a showcase for the best rapper of the following decade. Essential. |
| Take Care (ft. Rihanna) | The album's title track and its most emotionally complex duet. The Gil Scott-Heron sample, Rihanna's vocal performance, and Drake's verse create the most formally sophisticated love song of his career. Essential. |
| Marvin's Room Revisited / Doing It Wrong (ft. Stevie Wonder) | Stevie Wonder's harmonica solo gives this the album's most musically distinguished closing contribution. An emotional closing to the album's most devastating sequence. Essential. |
| Lord Knows (ft. Rick Ross) | Rick Ross's verse gives the album its most grandiosely competitive and formally confident moment. Boi-1da's production is the hardest on the album. Essential. |
| Look What You've Done | The album's most personal and formally unguarded track. Drake addressing his mother and uncle in the most vulnerable performance of his career. One of the finest pieces of confessional rap of its decade. Essential. |
| Crew Love (ft. The Weeknd) | The Weeknd's hook gives the album's most accessible R&B-influenced moment. Less formally inventive than the surrounding material but an enjoyable collective moment. |
Final Verdict and Rating
| Category | Score |
|---|---|
| Production | 10/10 |
| Lyrics | 9/10 |
| Flow & Delivery | 9/10 |
| Features | 9.5/10 |
| Cohesion | 9.5/10 |
| Replay Value | 9/10 |
| Overall | 9/10 |
Take Care is Drake’s finest album and the record that created 40’s atmospheric Toronto sound as the dominant aesthetic in mainstream rap for the following decade. Production scores a perfect 10 — no album in the 2010s had a more immediately distinctive and widely influential sonic identity. “Marvins Room” is one of the most emotionally raw performances in modern rap. “Look What You’ve Done” is the most personal track of his career. The Grammy was deserved. 9/10.
Final Rating: 9/10
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Take Care Drake's best album?
Take Care is Drake's finest album at Rap Reviews Daily — a 9/10 Grammy-winning record. Production scores a perfect 10. It won Best Rap Album at the 2013 Grammys, debuted at number one with 631,000 copies, and created the dominant sonic aesthetic in mainstream rap for the following decade.
What are the best songs on Take Care?
The five essential tracks are: "Marvins Room," "Take Care," "Look What You've Done," "Headlines," and "Lord Knows." Marvins Room is the album's greatest track and one of the most emotionally raw drunk-dial performances ever recorded.
Who produced Take Care?
Take Care was primarily produced by Noah "40" Shebib, Drake's longtime collaborator and the architect of the hazy, atmospheric Toronto sound. Boi-1da, Hit-Boy, T-Minus, and The Weeknd contributed additional productions. 40's aesthetic — chopped vocal samples, 808s in reverb, submerged melodics — created the most widely imitated sound in 2010s rap.
What is the rating for Take Care?
Rap Reviews Daily rates Take Care a 9/10. Production scores a perfect 10. It is Drake's finest album, the Grammy winner for Best Rap Album in 2013, and the record that created the dominant sonic aesthetic in mainstream rap for the following decade.