Take Care (2011)

The album follows the success of Drake's 2010 debut album Thank Me Later, which became a commercial success and was well-received by music critics. It also continued Drake's creative partnership with record producer and audio engineer Noah "40" Shebib, who had first introduced his distinct sound on Drake's breakthrough mixtape So Far Gone . Prior to Take Care, Drake also expanded his repertoire as a live performer. For the album, he intended to have Shebib handle most of the production and record a more cohesive sound than on Thank Me Later, which featured disparate production duties by Shebib and others.

In November 2010, Drake revealed the title of his next studio album would be Take Care. In comparison to his debut album Drake revealed to Y.C Radio 1 that Thank Me Later was a rushed album, stating, "I didn’t get to take the time that I wanted to on that record. I rushed a lot of the songs and sonically I didn’t get to sit with the record and say, 'I should change this verse.' "Once it was done, it was done. That’s why my new album is called Take Care because I get to take my time this go-round." Drake mentioned after OVO Fest 2011 that Take Care could have up to 18 songs on it, and added that Stevie Wonder contributed to the creative direction of the album and will be featured on the album as well. Drake also revealed that the album was recorded mainly in Toronto. Debating whether to submit his final cut or not, Drake's preferred release date motivated him to create a Birthday Edition, much like a deluxe edition to be released on the iTunes Store.

Some producers that were revealed to be working with Drake on Take Care other than Noah "40" Shebib include T-Minus, Jamie Smith from The xx, and Boi-1da (who is a long-time Drake collaborator). He had initially recruited 9th Wonder for the album. He even appeared on 9th's documentary The Wonder Year and expressed his desire to make a number one hit with him. However, in an interview about a month prior to the slated release date, 9th said that he was not on the album. 9th states that part of the reason was because he was going through an A&R and playing beats for them as opposed to the artist himself, which he is opposed to. Drake had also planned on having Q-Tip, DJ Premier, and The Neptunes produce on the album, but those projects fell through as well. Some artists that were confirmed to be collaborators with Drake on Take Care consist of Stevie Wonder, Kendrick Lamar, Chantal Kreviazuk, André 3000, Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, and Rihanna. He had initially reached out to Phonte of the former group Little Brother, who is a major influence on his career. A track was made for Take Care but it did not make the album due to an issue with the producer. Drake admits in an interview to "dropping the ball" on the project and is optimistic about a future collaboration with Phonte. He also wanted to collaborate with Justin Timberlake stating, "The song was gonna be dope," it was produced by Noah "40" Shebib. "It was solid, a solid little look. But he's so immersed in the acting thing, and I don't blame him, he's doing great at it. He was just like, 'I really want to work. I just can't do it right now. But we'll work as soon as I'm back in the studio.