Album Of The Week: Drake Take Care

I resisted Drake. I resisted Drake hard. In the beginning, when he was just another face on Lil Wayne's already-overcrowded Young Money roster, I wondered how the hell anyone was supposed to take this kid seriously. Rap, after all, has not historically been kind to Canadians or to teenage soap-opera veterans. When he released his So Far Gone mixtape, he suddenly started to make sense; his rapping was pedestrian, but he had a silky voice and a great instinct for what sort of music best fit it, and "Best I Ever Had" was the sort of stratospheric pop-rap jam that launches gigantic careers. By the time he release Thank Me Later last year, though, I was done. He was dead to me. I thought his unfunny-punchline hashtag-rap style was clumsy and artless, and I just hated the idea that this kid was already getting surly and self-involved about fame on his first album. But a year and a half later, Drizzy did it. He made a great album. He did it by focusing on his strengths, minimizing his weaknesses, and developing his voice. And more to the point, he figured out what he wanted to say and how to say it. Take Care is just as emotionally affecting as it is musically canny, and it's miles better than anything I ever thought this kid could do.