S. Samuel
With rap star Drake's Take Care sophomore album on the horizon, the Young Money frontrunner has opened up on his setback with last year's Thank Me Later debut.
In Drizzy’s eyes, the platinum-selling LP lacked a clear and concise narrative.
Drake looks to add to Take Care what he felt Thank Me Later lacked: continuity. “Thank Me Later was just song, song, song, song, song, whereas So Far Gone was a consistent thread,” the Young Money MC said of his debut album in relation to his breakout mixtape. “It was a story to me. And Thank Me Later, I sort of didn’t have enough time mentally to piece together a story. It’s very tedious.” Call it a case of being his own worst critic, as last year’s Thank Me Later was met with favorable reviews and was commercially successful as well. Still, Drake aimed to tweak his creative process with his next album, due November 15. (MTV)
A year ago, Drizzy reflected on how much he had grown since the summer 2010 Thank Me Later release.
“I feel like I did a good job on Thank Me Later, but I feel like I could get better,” Drake said in his feature. “I could just tell better stories. I’m watching people speak, watching other people’s careers, watching friends, watching lovers, everything. Just watching. I’m willing to learn with my eyes open.” (Men’s Fashion)
A month prior, Drake talked about what regrets he had with Thank Me Later.
“The saddest part to me is that I would have made ‘9 AM in Dallas’ the intro for the album, but I did it the day of mastering, which is crazy, so it couldn’t make the album,” Drake said in an interview. “That’s probably my greatest upset, was the fact that it couldn’t be on the physical disc and be a part of that album. ‘Darlin’ ‘ was a loss just because it was never mixed, and every time I hear it in the club, you can never really hear the words…Most of the music we held for a long time, and the stuff that did leak, it was pretty good references. It wasn’t anything I was too upset about. ‘Shut It Down’ leaking early was painful. I think it could have been a bigger record had it not been out there so long. And ‘Fall for Your Type’ I wish was on there, but I have other plans for that record, so it’s gonna be good.” (MTV)
After initially planning its release for tomorrow (October 24), Drake recently delayed Take Care through mid-November.
“The new date for Take Care is November 15th, 2011. I managed to create this album in my hometown of Toronto and the thoughts and stories I wanted to get across just became so clear. It truly felt like when I was here 3 years ago making So Far Gone. So I have completed 19 songs (17 on physical and 2 on bonus), and have run into a roadblock of clearing 3 samples in time to make the October 24th date. My options were to take the songs off and make the birthday release happen, or to take an extra couple weeks to get the paper work right and give you the album they way I NEED you to hear it. The choice was clear as day for me. November 15th you will get Take Care the exact way I created it with no trimmings. This music means too much to me to get attached to dates and I do apologize for the delay but I promise that it is only for the benefit of our experience together. Club Paradise Tour will also be moved to when students are back from the Christmas/New Year break so that I can get to more schools. New dates will be released in the next week…see you all soon.” (October’s Very Own)
Take Care is now slated to drop Tuesday, November 15th.
Check out a recent Drake interview below:
