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Drake: "The Ride," "Practice"

7:58 a.m. · November 10, 2011 · by David Padula

Sick of all these Take Careleaks yet? With the Nov. 15 album only five days away, and floating around the Internet in full, two more individual tracks have made themselves heard. One is another collab with The Weeknd, while the other is almost a cover song. As a recent, extensive Stereogum interview noted, Drake's sophomore album is looking like this year's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy--which isn't so much to draw comparisons between Drizzy and Kanye as it is to gauge Take Care's impact.

First is "The Ride," the LP's closing track, which made its way online late last night after having originally been left off the leaked album. The Weeknd does not exactly feature, but this appears to be one of the writing collaborations between he and Drake. It's a summary track, and the Toronto rapper covers the topics you've heard him tackle before. The whole thing rides a repeated soul sample for nearly six minutes; towards the end, Drake raps:

I don't know much but still I know a secret

They say 'mo money mo problems,' my nigga, don't believe it

I mean, sure, there's still some bills and taxes I've still evaded

But I blew six million on myself and I feel amazin'

Next up is that quasi-cover, "Practice," as "all those other men were practice." The song reinterprets Juvenile's 1999 hit "Back That Azz Up," drastically morphing the original chorus into a slow jam. It's smooth and wobbles in a Houston, Texas kind of way, and Drake calls for "girls from the 504 to drop it right now," though this song will speak to more than just the women of New Orleans. [Hypetrak / MJF]

"The Ride"

"Practice"