Jacques PatrickAshley Humphries ENC11015th March 2015

The Analysis of Drakes Take Care AlbumDrake portrays through his "Take Care" album that money cannot buy happiness. Through his album cover and his songs he illustrates that he is not content with some aspects of life. In his songs he continuously talks about how he has all the wealth a person would need, but he still has the personal problems that a non-celebrity would have. In Over My Dead Body and Marvins Room, he talks about issues involving his career, women, and family. In Drakes album photo, he uses the different riches of gold such as jewelry, which I think represents the fact that he is at the top of the rap game and he is just as wealthy as the wealthiest rappers. Then as I analyze further, the gold paintings and the gold cups in his cover photo; it allows me to assume he has a very expensive house, but he makes it evident that even with all the things money can buy, it does not necessarily buy happiness. This is obvious because in his picture he is surrounded by expensive items, but is sitting there looking depressed. He uses a dim lighting to emphasize on the gold objects making sure we see that part of the picture, although he wants to show that he is wearing a black shirt which is a color that symbolizes power. It is viewed as a negative color which suits his underlying meaning of him being wistful. Analyzing the album cover, it is easy to see that he is not happy. This could be for multiple reasons, but I am certain that money is not the reason. He has on a gold chain, he has a gold drinking cup, a gold candle, a gold owl, gold watches, and a gold ring so it is evident that he has plenty of money. He writes the title of the album "Take Care" in a gold handwritten cursive font which symbolizes that he probably took his time making this album. His thought process throughout his work here is consistent with the theme of the lack of happiness even with the fact that he is wealthy. Drake starts his "Take Care" album out with Over My Dead Body, so obviously this song had a special meaning to him. He wanted this song to be the first song people heard and the message he delivered to the listeners. He has this cocky tone is this song which reflects back on the gold material in his cover. In one part of the song, he says "Are these people really discussing my career again? Asking if I'll be going Platinum in a year again? Don't I have the stuff the world want to hear again? (Drake, Over My Dead Body, 2011)" He then answers himself in question form saying "Don't Michael Jordan still got his hoop earring in? (Drake, Over My Dead Body, 2011)Drake implied that all the questions he asked are rhetorical. Then he goes into talking about love saying, "I thought I found the girl of my dreams at the strip club, dang I was wrong though" (Drake, Over My Dead Body, 2011). It is intriguing that he says this because it is ironic that he is throwing money at girls to find love, but he realizes the girls do not want the love, they only want the money because that is their job. His voice seems haunting in this song because I feel like he is trying to prove a point. He was voicing the fact that he won't be removed from the top of the rap game until he feels like it. That is why the title of the song is Over My Dead Body, he won't let anyone pry his future accomplishments out of his hands and if anyone tries it will be over his dead body. Towards the ending of the song, he says, "Feel like I've been here before, huh? I still got ten years to go, huh? (Drake, Over My Dead Body, 2011)According to Rap Genius, Drake feels experienced without being experienced; he still has a long time in the game. (Drake, Marvin's Room, 2011) One of the songs that really takes a look at how Drake views todays modern female and his love life is track 6, Marvin's Room. The song Marvin's Room starts off by two women speaking on the phone and one of them can barely remember anything that happened that night. In this song, you can hear it in Drakes voice that he is ashamed of the women he allows into his life. He says in one part of the song, "I don't think I'm conscious of making monsters out of the women I sponsor 'til it all goes bad. (Drake, Marvin's Room, 2011)" According to Rap Genius, what he meant when he said this is that, "the more money Drake sponsors, or pays for a women's wants, the more blinded the women become by the money. (Drake, Marvin's Room, 2011)Then they say, "The women turn into fiends who are only out for Drake's wallet." I see where this could be hurtful to a mans self-esteem, because no man ever wants to feel that he can only get women because of his bank account. This all connects back to the point that Drake wants all the things that cannot be bought. He said in an interview with GQ that this song meant a lot to him. It is heard in his voice that the words he is saying are coming from deep down, but in the song he is acting as if he is drunk and is insisting to call a girl that he used to have some sort of relationship with. She rejects him because she is with someone, but he still feels that she can do better because she could have him. He then starts to wonder why he is not good enough for her anymore and he goes on to say in the song, "I see all of her friends here, guess she don't have the time to kick it no more. Flights in the morning, what you doing thats so important (Drake, Marvin's Room, 2011)?" What is crazy about these things Drake is saying in the interview he did with GQ is that he says it is not about one woman, it is about how all the women he deals with are all the same. In the final analysis, I decided to watch the video for the song Marvins room. The Video begins with a phone call of a woman talking about her nights partying, subsequently switching to a shot of Drake seated in a bar lounge. This happens often throughout the video and it seems as if this is a woman from his past that he can't get over. In one part of the song Drake seems to be the only one not having a good time because you can see partygoers mingle and dance around him, he just throws back shot after shot to chase the bottles of beer that he sips on. This part of the video clearly inebriated, He first flirts with a girl standing at the bar. After he whispers something in her ear, the young lady walks off uninterested as the he swivels his head to watch her strut away. Undeterred, he hits the dance floor pushing up on a second female, who also blocks his advances. I feel like the two girls he tried to talk to in these two separate scenes are women he had past relationships with. Drake says when talking to the first girl Forget that Dude that you love so bad, I know you still think about the times we had. (Drake, Marvin's Room, 2011) Then the second girl he says to her Forget that guy that you think youve found (Drake, Marvin's Room, 2011) and the girl walks off giving him mingy look as if he just needs to stop. The scene then cuts back to the pants-less woman who is still sprawled out on her couch breathing into the phone, Are you drunk right now?. This part in the song I found interesting because all the girls he tried to talk to, looked almost identical to the girl that kept flashing on and off the screen. I think he wanted us to see that these women are all the same in his eyes, and no matter how many reject him he always knows that there's another woman just like the one who doesn't want him that will eventually want him. Drakes drunken state is visually depicted by a spinning camera that moves in and out of focus as he makes his way across the dance floor to the bathroom where he continues to croon. As I analyze this scene more it's obvious to me that everything is dark, except the women which he shows the color red over. I also notice he highlights all himself with gold lighting along with his friends and his wealth. This connects back to his album cover in a way because he highlights all the things, that you would think a young guy his age wants in life but for some reason he still isn't happy. He used the color Red whenever they showed the women, which I think mean the women are one of the things that can cause him to be down at this point of his life, when he clearly has much to celebrate. Then the in next scene you can see Drake sitting down in the middle of the party clearly thinking about something. The video shows these flashes of a woman and Drake shakes in head as if he feels guilty for the women he has created and he even says it in the song I-dont-think-im-conscious-of-making-monsters-outta-the-women-i-sponsor-til-it-all-goes-bad. After that scene he makes his way to the bathroom and then stares into the mirror as if he can't believe this is the life hes living now. He says in the song too I got some women that's living off me paid for their flights and hotels, I'm ashamed. Bet that you know them, I won't say no names. After a while girl, they all seem the same. I've had sex four times this week: I'll explain, having a hard time adjusting to fame. (Drake, Marvin's Room, 2011). Just analyzing this part in the song from it seems as if he's confused on how to get accustomed to this crazy life hes living and its taking a toll on him on the inside, which is probably the cause of some of his unhappiness. In the last scene of the video it cuts off to Drake walking through the club clearly intoxicated and the music becomes very slow now. I think this is the representation of the end of Drakes night due to the fact that he's had too much to drink and he's close to passing out now. I feel like he wanted to show us through this video that this is just all a blur, because after he leaves the club he calls a girl and says Im lucky that you picked up, lucky that you stayed on I need someone to put this weight on, well I'm sorry. (Drake, Marvin's Room, 2011) In the end the he eventually gets a woman to end the night with knowing they both probably won't remember anything that happened from this night when they wake up.Drake is one of the most popular Rappers in today's time. His album Take Care was an album a lot of people loved including myself. When listening to it when it first came out I was just the fan of the things he was saying because he has such clever word play when he raps. After analyzing the work of this album though I have a way more in depth feeling on what Drake was saying and the point he was trying to get across through this album. When I first saw the cover I never thought anything of it but after analyzing it I now know that Drake was trying to show anyone who got the album that money can't buy happiness. He continually made this obvious through the 20 songs on his album particularly the two I analyzed Marvins Room and over my Dead Body. In these songs two songs he vented about his career, women, friends, family, and his wealth. Drake did a really good job with getting his point across through his visuals and text. I say that because I feel like I know and understand what he is going through being this big time rapper and not knowing how to find happiness outside of his wealth because with money he says there's more problems (Drake, Marvin's Room, 2011).ReferencesDrake (2011). Marvin's Room [Recorded by Drake]. USA.Drake (2011). Over My Dead Body [Recorded by Drake]. USA.Goble, C. (2011, November 8). Stereogum Q&A Drake. Retrieved from Stereogum: http://www.stereogum.com/871972/stereogum-qa-drake/franchises/interview/Green, M. A. (2011, November 11). The GQ&A: Drake. Retrieved from GQ: http://www.gq.com/entertainment/music/201111/drake-take-care-interview-gq