Between winning a record-breaking twelve billboard awards for 2019 in May, seeing a chart-topping re-release of his first EP, and witnessing his own Toronto Raptors’ NBA championship win on the eve of his October’s Very Own (OVO) Fest, 2019 is proving to be an exceptional year for Drake. Given that he’s at the seeming peak of his career, it feels like a fitting time, then, for the rapper to look back at everything that got him here and share a gift with his supporters in the form of “Care Package,” an official compilation of b-sides, rarities, and one-offs.
In a fashion most similar to the crooner-tinged mood of February’s “So Far Gone,” a re-release of his 2009 EP (with updated, added content), the rapper brings to the table 17 unreleased throwbacks from his catalog between 2010 and 2016, most of which were previously only available via his Soundcloud page. Everything about the album screams (or sings) Drake nostalgia, all the way down to the cover art, which features the hood of an Acura TSX; Drake once had a 2004 model back when he still went by either Aubrey, or “Jimmy Brooks from Degrassi.”
Much like his previous work, “Care Package” offers the same familiar balance of songs featuring the artist singing, rapping, or both. In one standout track, “4pm in Calabasas,” Drake raps, “Mike never tried to rap like Pac, Pac never tried to sing like Mike; Those my dad’s words to me when I asked him how to make it in life; And I always said my mother gave the greatest advice.” Is this clever wordplay or a subtle jab at his own father? The world may never know.
And of course, it wouldn’t be a true Drake album without at least one spiteful “I made it” track aimed at those who doubted his career; “How Bout Now” delivers just that with the line “I used to always try to burn you CDs of my new shit; You be like ‘who’s this?’ I be like ‘me girl,’ you be like ‘Oh word, true shit?’ Then ask if we can listen to Ludacris.”
Yep, life for Drake is pretty good right now, and you might say “Care Package” has him feeling “B-side” himself with joy.
Keith Hudak 