On November 15, Young Money Entertainment star Drake released his highly anticipated sophomore album Take Care. After the somewhat disappointing effort of Drake’s debut album, Thank Me Later, Drake’s follow-up attempt seems like a warning to anybody that doubts his ability.  He deserves to be considered one of the hottest emcees in the game right now. Before I continue this review, however, let it be known that I was in fact one of those doubters not too long ago, believing that Drake was too inconsistent, sung too much, and overall a disappointment compared to the expectations I had from his earlier mix tapes. Surprisingly, however, Take Care Drake was able to change my mind, along with many of the other doubters I am sure, that he is indeed an impressive force in hip-hop.

From the album’s first song, “Over My Dead Body” Drake reminds his fans just how powerful he can be lyrically; his songs include clever lines such as “Shout out to all my (expletive) living tax free/Nowadays it’s six figures when they tax me/Oh well, I guess you lose some and win some/Long as the outcome is income.”

While at times the album may have a little too much singing (i.e. “Marvin’s Room/Buried Alive”) for hardcore rap fans, the album overall blends the balanced mix of relaxed, reflective rapping and emotional singing that true Drake fans are accustomed to hearing. If there is even a question at all of how this album compares to Drake’s debut, it indisputably blows it out of the water lyrically, production-wise, and in the overall improvement of Drake’s rapping/singing balance.

Though the album is still quite new, Drake fans are already making their opinions heard with massive praise for the emcee’s latest effort. When asked what he thought of the album, Drake fan Teddy Jackson replied that “Take Care is an album unlike any other. Drake universalizes his sound and has many different styles of music that reaches out to many different audiences. Also, I feel that I can relate to most of the songs on the album, such as “Marvin’s Room” and “Club Paradise,” and those relatable songs are a big part in the greatness of the album.”

Overall, if you have never enjoyed Drake before, you are probably not going to like this album either. A good test to see if you would enjoy this album, however, is listening to the first single from the album, “Headlines”, which exhibits the overall quality and enjoyment embodied in Take Care. To put it simply, however, if you are normally a Drake fan, you will absolutely love this album and agree that it is arguably one of the best hip-hop albums to come out this year.