Take Care (Drake song)
Encyclopedia
"Take Care" is a song by Canadian rapper Drake
from his second studio album of the same name, Take Care
(2011). The song features guest vocals from Barbadian
recording artist Rihanna
. Upon the release of the album, "Take Care" debuted at number nine on the US Billboard
Hot 100 chart due to strong digital download sales of over 162,000 copies.
, Jamie Smith
and Noah Shebib, with production helmed by the latter two under their production names Jamie xx
and 40, respectively. The song features guest vocals from Rihanna
, and is the second time that the pair have collaborated on a song, the first being the number one single "What's My Name?
" from Rihanna's fifth studio album, Loud
(2010), on which Drake was featured. "Take Care" is a remake of Jamie xx
's remix of Gil Scott-Heron
's "I'll Take Care of You
", released as a single under the name "I'll Take Care of U" from Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx's collaboration album We're New Here
.
praised the collaboration between Drake and Rihanna as well as Rihanna's vocal performance with regard to the lyrical content, writing "Rihanna [delivers] a vocal far, far prettier than one would ever expect from her lips that essentially forgives Drake and promises him friendship for life." Tim Sendra of Allmusic also commended Rihanna's vocal performance, calling it "typically great" and continued to write that "Take Care" is the "most unique" song on the album. Glenn Gamboa of Newsday
labelled the song as "gorgeous", writing that Rihanna's lifts the depressive mood which is present on the majority of Drake's songs. Gamboa also compared the song to Rihanna's "We Found Love
", the lead single from her 2011 album Talk That Talk
, writing that it is a "sweet counterpart". Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune
was critical of the song as well as Rihanna's inclusion, writing "Even with serial-songstress Rihanna on “Take Care” (is it possible to release a pop-leaning album anymore without a Rihanna cameo?), the tone is muted, loaded with reverb and beats that occasionally drop out completely."
Hot 100 chart, with sales of over 162,000 copies. It became Rihanna's twenty-second top ten hit in the United States. The strong sales of the song prompted "Take Care" to debut at number four on the US Hot Digital Songs
chart. The song also entered the UK Singles Chart
at number 12, and peaked at number 9. On November 27, 2011, the song debuted at number 67 on the Swiss Singles Chart
.
band Florence and the Machine
covered the song on November 25, 2011 during BBC Radio 1
's Live Lounge
. Before performing the song, lead singer Florence Welch
announced: "This is pretty exciting because this is a song by one of my, well two of my, well three of my absolute favorite artists." Amy Lee of The Huffington Post
wrote: "Florence sounds natural on the soulful, mournful track, with an added layer of epic provided by the band. In fact, 'Take Care' almost sounds more like a Florence and The Machine track then a Drake one." David Greenwald of Billboard described the cover as "impassioned chamber-rock take." Describing their cover as "stunning", James Montgomery of MTV News
wrote: "Backed by a stirring string section, Florence and the Machine's version of the song isn't as dark and knotty as Drake's original; instead, it's ethereal and downright doleful, starting slow and sleepy but building to a towering crescendo, with Welch lamenting that she's 'loved and lost' while drums pound, keyboards pulse and the strings trill." Montgomery also commented that "It's the kind of aching cover that leaves you wishing the two could actually collaborate on record."
Drake
- People :* Drake ** Notably Sir Francis Drake , an English sea captain and politician of the Elizabethan era* Drake * Drake , stage name of Aubrey Drake Graham, Canadian recording artist and actor- Places :...
from his second studio album of the same name, Take Care
Take Care
Take Care is the second studio album by Canadian recording artist Drake, released November 15, 2011, on Young Money Entertainment and Cash Money Records. It is the follow-up to his 2010 debut album Thank Me Later. Production for the album took place during 2010 to 2011 and was handled by Noah "40"...
(2011). The song features guest vocals from Barbadian
Barbadian people
Barbadians are people originating on the Caribbean island of Barbados whether they live there or in the Barbadian diaspora.Rihanna is by far the most popular Barbadian on the planet.-Diaspora:...
recording artist Rihanna
Rihanna
Robyn Rihanna Fenty , better known as simply Rihanna, is a Barbadian recording artist. Born in Saint Michael, Barbados, Rihanna moved to the United States at the age of 16 to pursue a recording career under the guidance of record producer Evan Rogers...
. Upon the release of the album, "Take Care" debuted at number nine on the US Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Hot 100 chart due to strong digital download sales of over 162,000 copies.
Background and composition
"Take Care" was written by DrakeDrake (entertainer)
Aubrey Drake Graham , who records under the mononym Drake, is a Canadian recording artist and actor. He originally became known for playing Jimmy Brooks on the television series Degrassi: The Next Generation....
, Jamie Smith
Jamie xx
Jamie Smith is an English music producer and remix artist, who gained fame both as solo act and as a member of the London-based band The xx....
and Noah Shebib, with production helmed by the latter two under their production names Jamie xx
Jamie xx
Jamie Smith is an English music producer and remix artist, who gained fame both as solo act and as a member of the London-based band The xx....
and 40, respectively. The song features guest vocals from Rihanna
Rihanna
Robyn Rihanna Fenty , better known as simply Rihanna, is a Barbadian recording artist. Born in Saint Michael, Barbados, Rihanna moved to the United States at the age of 16 to pursue a recording career under the guidance of record producer Evan Rogers...
, and is the second time that the pair have collaborated on a song, the first being the number one single "What's My Name?
What's My Name? (Rihanna song)
"What's My Name?" is mid-tempo electro-R&B song, produced by Norwegian producers, StarGate, who return Rihanna to the "Island-pop" of her early career with a backing track consisting of "heavy reggae" and ska beats with synthesised organs. Bill Lamb from About.com noted that before Rihanna's vocals...
" from Rihanna's fifth studio album, Loud
Loud (Rihanna album)
Loud is the fifth studio album by Barbadian recording artist Rihanna, first released on November 12, 2010 by Def Jam Recordings. The album was recorded between February and August 2010, predominantly during Rihanna's Last Girl on Earth Tour and filming for her first feature film Battleship...
(2010), on which Drake was featured. "Take Care" is a remake of Jamie xx
Jamie xx
Jamie Smith is an English music producer and remix artist, who gained fame both as solo act and as a member of the London-based band The xx....
's remix of Gil Scott-Heron
Gil Scott-Heron
Gilbert "Gil" Scott-Heron was an American soul and jazz poet, musician, and author known primarily for his work as a spoken word performer in the 1970s and '80s...
's "I'll Take Care of You
I'm New Here
I'm New Here is a departure from the rhythmic, jazz-funk and soul style of Scott-Heron's previous work, and embraces an acoustic and electronic minimal sound. Musically, I'm New Here incorporates blues, folk, trip hop, and electronica styles...
", released as a single under the name "I'll Take Care of U" from Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie xx's collaboration album We're New Here
We're New Here
We're New Here is a remix album by American recording artist Gil Scott-Heron and English music producer Jamie "xx" Smith, released February 21, 2011, on XL Recordings and Young Turks Records. It is a reworking of Scott-Heron's studio album I'm New Here...
.
Critical reception
David Amidon of PopMattersPopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
praised the collaboration between Drake and Rihanna as well as Rihanna's vocal performance with regard to the lyrical content, writing "Rihanna [delivers] a vocal far, far prettier than one would ever expect from her lips that essentially forgives Drake and promises him friendship for life." Tim Sendra of Allmusic also commended Rihanna's vocal performance, calling it "typically great" and continued to write that "Take Care" is the "most unique" song on the album. Glenn Gamboa of Newsday
Newsday
Newsday is a daily American newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties and the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, although it is sold throughout the New York metropolitan area...
labelled the song as "gorgeous", writing that Rihanna's lifts the depressive mood which is present on the majority of Drake's songs. Gamboa also compared the song to Rihanna's "We Found Love
We Found Love
"We Found Love" is a song by Barbadian recording artist Rihanna, from her sixth studio album Talk That Talk . The song features Scottish singer-songwriter Calvin Harris. "We Found Love" was released as the lead single from the album and premiered on September 22, 2011, in the United Kingdom on the...
", the lead single from her 2011 album Talk That Talk
Talk That Talk
Talk That Talk is the sixth studio album by Barbadian recording artist Rihanna and was released on November 18, 2011, through Def Jam Recordings. The lead single from the album, "We Found Love" featuring Calvin Harris, premiered on Capital FM radio on September 22, 2011, and was released on iTunes...
, writing that it is a "sweet counterpart". Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
was critical of the song as well as Rihanna's inclusion, writing "Even with serial-songstress Rihanna on “Take Care” (is it possible to release a pop-leaning album anymore without a Rihanna cameo?), the tone is muted, loaded with reverb and beats that occasionally drop out completely."
Chart performance
Although "Take Care" was not released as a single, the song charted on the strength of downloads alone upon the release of the album. The song made its chart debut in the United States where it debuted at number nine on the BillboardBillboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Hot 100 chart, with sales of over 162,000 copies. It became Rihanna's twenty-second top ten hit in the United States. The strong sales of the song prompted "Take Care" to debut at number four on the US Hot Digital Songs
Hot Digital Songs
The Hot Digital Songs chart ranks the best-selling digital singles in the United States, according to Billboard.Beginning in February 2005, digital sales have been incorporated into many of Billboards music single charts. It was decided to do so mainly because of the dramatic rise in popularity of...
chart. The song also entered the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
at number 12, and peaked at number 9. On November 27, 2011, the song debuted at number 67 on the Swiss Singles Chart
Swiss Music Charts
The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75...
.
Cover versions
British indie rockIndie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
band Florence and the Machine
Florence and the Machine
Florence and the Machine is the recording name of English musician Florence Welch and a collaboration of other artists who provide music for her voice. Florence and the Machine's sound has been described as a combination of various genres, including rock and soul...
covered the song on November 25, 2011 during BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
's Live Lounge
Live Lounge
The Live Lounge is a segment on the British radio station BBC Radio 1. Originally hosted by Jo Whiley on her mid-morning radio show and now hosted by Fearne Cotton, it exhibits well-known artists usually performing one song of their own and one by another artist, in an acoustic format...
. Before performing the song, lead singer Florence Welch
Florence Welch
Florence Leontine Mary Welch is an English singer-songwriter, best known worldwide as the lead singer of Florence and the Machine...
announced: "This is pretty exciting because this is a song by one of my, well two of my, well three of my absolute favorite artists." Amy Lee of The Huffington Post
The Huffington Post
The Huffington Post is an American news website and content-aggregating blog founded by Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer, and Jonah Peretti, featuring liberal minded columnists and various news sources. The site offers coverage of politics, theology, media, business, entertainment, living, style,...
wrote: "Florence sounds natural on the soulful, mournful track, with an added layer of epic provided by the band. In fact, 'Take Care' almost sounds more like a Florence and The Machine track then a Drake one." David Greenwald of Billboard described the cover as "impassioned chamber-rock take." Describing their cover as "stunning", James Montgomery of MTV News
MTV News
MTV News is the news division of MTV, one of the first and most popular music television network in the U.S., as well as some of MTV's related channels around the world. MTV News began in the late 1980s with the program The Week In Rock, hosted by Kurt Loder, the first official MTV News correspondent...
wrote: "Backed by a stirring string section, Florence and the Machine's version of the song isn't as dark and knotty as Drake's original; instead, it's ethereal and downright doleful, starting slow and sleepy but building to a towering crescendo, with Welch lamenting that she's 'loved and lost' while drums pound, keyboards pulse and the strings trill." Montgomery also commented that "It's the kind of aching cover that leaves you wishing the two could actually collaborate on record."
Charts
| Chart (2011) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA Aria An aria in music was originally any expressive melody, usually, but not always, performed by a singer. The term is now used almost exclusively to describe a self-contained piece for one voice usually with orchestral accompaniment... ) |
45 |
| Canada (Canadian Hot 100 Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks songs in Canada. The chart debuted in the Billboard issue dated June 16, 2007 and was made available for the first time via their online services on June 7, 2007... ) |
17 |
| France (SNEP) | 55 |
| Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75... ) |
67 |
| US Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... Hot 100 |
9 |
| US Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Songs | 63 |