Pieces of a Man: Drake & Rihanna - "Take Care" (Woodkid, Florence + The Machine)
Having re-listened to it over the past few months, I must admit, Tom Breihan was right... Take Care is hands down, Drake's strongest [full-length] effort since So Far Gone (2009). My personal favourite track and quite arguably the album's shining moment, "Take Care" has a deeply-rooted history. Originally penned by Blues singer-songwriter Bobby "Blue" Bland way back in 1966, Gil Scott-Heron re-appropriated "I'll Take Care of You" on his thirteenth record (2010). I'm New Here was liberated through XL Recordings, produced by labelhead Richard Russell, and features a wide array of newly-adopted musical stylings. Roughly a year later, Jamie xx was commissioned to produce a Dubstep-inspired remix album, We're New Here. Drake's Boom-Bap version of "Take Care" is essentially a refurbished edit that beefs up the Tribal drums and subs in Rihanna for Gil Scott-Heron on the hook.
Nearly 6 months after it's original release, we finally have a proper music video to go along with Take Care's title track. Skillfully directed by Yoann Lemoine (Woodkid), "Take Care" has been long-rumored and pushed back numerous times since initially being announced back in February. Woodkid sets the stage with a dark, yet vibrant music video... that's pretty emotional and "artsy," with no particular running plot-line. Drake & Rihanna engage in a long, drawn out hug and there's an underlying sense of intensity/sadness. Slow motion images of raging bulls, fluttering birds, karate kicks, smokey mountain-sides, and wild fires are juxtaposed against "Take Care"'s primary black-and-white scenes. Director X's slightly less serious, re-Bar Mitzvah themed music video for "HYFR" (Lil Wayne) was also released late Friday evening, just in time for Passover.