Let's be honest here, television isn't often a path taken by rappers to get their name out in advance of their impending musical careers (unless, of course, you're Will Smith) but that's exactly the route that Drake has, perhaps unwittingly, taken. Listening to his second album Take Care, you would be forgiven for assuming that Drake may have had the same sort of upbringing made famous by his bigger-named contemporaries Kanye, Fiddy or Snoop but no - Drake was a castmember of Degrassi: The Next Generation, where he appeared in 138 episodes.
The juxtaposition from an actor on a TV show aimed at teens to a rap artist who uses phrases like "Bitch, I'm the man. Don't you forget it" is really quite jarring. Now into his second album, Drake is probably making a concerted effort to break loose from the shackles of the TV show from which he made his name and to establish himself firmly within the ranks of credible R n' B artist. To an extent this is achieved, but the boastful nature of Take Care is a little hard to stomach as the record reaches past halfway point. It's pretty obvious that Drake is pretty high on himself and isn't afraid to say it, at great length.
Despite this, Take Care is slickly produced and competently arranged. It's just that Drake himself comes across as incredibly arrogant and full of himself, which is often a prerequisite of this genre, but every repetition of "I" or "me" just leaves a bad taste in the mouth. His ex Rihanna shows up on the record but even this fails to lift Take Care from the doldrums. Simply put, Drake isn't interesting and hearing him introspectively croon about his many qualities is like being stuck at a party with that guy who has no social skills. Just nod and move away.
