照顾好自己 (2012)

"Take Care" is the title track from Canadian rapper Drake's second studio album of the same name. The song features guest vocals from Barbadian singer Rihanna. The song heavily samples Jamie xx's remix of Gil Scott-Heron's version of "I'll Take Care of You", written by Brook Benton. "Take Care" was released as the fifth single from the album on January 17, 2012. It is a club song about a couple in a relationship acknowledging they have been hurt in their past, but will look after one another.

"Take Care" peaked at number seven on the US Billboard Hot 100, while also reaching the top ten in Australia, Denmark, Israel, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. It further peaked at numbers one and eight on the US Rhythmic and Mainstream Top 40 charts respectively. It is certified seven-times Platinum in the US and Australia. The song's accompanying music video, directed by Yoann Lemoine, depicts simplistic art including Drake and Rihanna's characters in an intimate relationship, with other scenes featuring animals such as a bull, black-throated magpie-jay and tropical fish, and various outdoor landscapes. The video portrays the ups and downs of a relationship with poaching and wildfires. Critics praised the video for its simple and minimalistic theme.

Recording and composition

"Take Care" was written by Drake (credited as Aubrey Graham), Noah Shebib, Anthony Palman and James Smith, better known as Jamie xx. Production of the song was handled by Jamie xx and Shebib under his production name Noah "40" Shebib. It was recorded by Shebib and Ruben Riveara at Metalworks Studios, Ontario, Canada. The engineer was Noel Cadastre, and was assisted by Greg Morrison. It was mixed by Noel "Gadget" Campbell at Studio 206, Ontario, Canada. All instrumentation was provided for by Jamie xx, with exception of the guitar, which was provided by Romy Madley Croft – Jamie xx's fellow band member from the xx; drum programming was completed by Shebib. Background vocals were performed by Gil Scott-Heron. "Take Care" contains a sample of Brook Benton's song "I'll Take Care of You". Permission and license was granted by XL Recordings. Rihanna appears on the track as a featured artist courtesy of the Island Def Jam Music Group.

"Take Care" is a club song that samples Jamie xx's 2011 remix of Gil Scott-Heron's cover song "I'll Take Care of You", originally recorded by Bobby Bland in 1959. The production of Drake's song was helmed by 40, reworking Jamie xx's remix.

Additionally, Drake makes reference to Lesley Gore's 1963 number one single, "It's My Party" by re-working the lyrics, "It's my birthday, I'll get high if I want to, can't deny that I want you, but I'll lie if I have to."

The song features guest vocals from Rihanna, marking the second collaboration of the pair, the first being Rihanna's number one single "What's My Name?" from her fifth studio album, Loud (2010), on which Drake was featured. The song is written in the key of C minor. The vocal range in the song spans one and a half octaves, from the lower note of C4 to the higher note of F5, between Drake, Rihanna, and the original sample of Scott-Heron.

Music video

Background

A music video for "Take Care" was first brought to light in late December 2011. Following the release of the videos of Drake's previous videos for "Marvins Room" and "Headlines", Drake told MTV News that fans could expect visuals for "Take Care" saying, "It's a project where I think visuals are called for. So we're working on definitely the 'Take Care' video, which we're trying to get shot soon." The music video was later filmed in February 2012, over three days. Director, Yoann Lemoine called the shoot "very minimal" and "mellow". He further revealed, "There's a lot of space in the video, and I wanted the visuals to pay tribute to that. When I listened to the track, I was seeing a landscape, involving animals and massive landscapes. I won't say too much, but it's very surprising that there are very few elements in it. It's very simple but there's this big sense of emptiness in it. It's not narrative at all, and it involves animals." Photos of the video were released to the internet on March 12, 2012, showing a grayscaled Drake and Rihanna consoling as well as close ups of both artists looking emotional. The video was initially set to premiere on March 23, 2012, but was delayed due to editing purposes. Drake spoke of the delay and further commented on the video, saying:

"It had to go through a process – I shot it with a director who's incredible and we were just very specific about it. It's a big record and a lot of footage. It's very artistic very abstract video – something that I wasn't used to. I'm usually used to a very straight forward concept so I'm really excited for people to see it because it's actually just something beautiful to look at. There's actually for once no story necessarily as far as there being a narrative like 'What's My Name?' or 'We Found Love' where there's stories. This is just beautiful imagery."