Care Package is the first compilation album by Canadian rapper Drake. It was released on August 2, 2019, by OVO Sound. The compilation consists of songs released between 2010 and 2016 that were initially unavailable for purchase or commercial streaming. The compilation features guest appearances from J. Cole, Rick Ross, and James Fauntleroy and additional vocals by Sampha and Beyoncé.
Contents
Background and release
Care Package follows the re-release of Drake's mixtape So Far Gone onto streaming services in February 2019. On August 1, 2019, Drake announced the release of Care Package via Instagram. The release of Care Package coincided with the start of Drake's ninth annual OVO Fest in Toronto.
The songs on Care Package were released as promotional material for several albums throughout the years. The earliest tracks, "I Get Lonely" and "Paris Morton Music", were released in 2010 after the release of Drake's debut album Thank Me Later. "Dreams Money Can Buy", "Trust Issues", "Club Paradise" and "Free Spirit" were released in 2011 before the release of Drake's second studio album, Take Care. The songs "5AM in Toronto", "Girls Love Beyoncé" and "Jodeci Freestyle" were released in 2013 before the release of Drake's third studio album, Nothing Was the Same. "The Motion" was included as a bonus track on the Best Buy exclusive physical deluxe edition and international edition for Nothing Was the Same.
"Draft Day" and "Days in the East" were released via October Very Own's SoundCloud in April 2014. "Heat of the Moment" was leaked online alongside "How About Now" and "6 God" in 2014. "How About Now" and "My Side" were included as bonus tracks on the physical edition to the mixtape If You're Reading This It's Too Late. "Can I" featuring vocals by Beyoncé was leaked online in 2015. "4PM in Calabasas" was premiered on OVO Sound Radio in June 2016, and is the latest track recorded on the album.
Critical reception
Care Package received positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 77, based on 5 reviews. Roisin O'Connor of The Independent noted the difference in lyrical content from the compiled songs and Drake's contemporary releases, as well as "a darker, moodier vibe running across the record in contrast to the scattered eclecticism of 2018's Scorpion."
Commercial performance
Care Package debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 with 109,000 album-equivalent units, of which 16,000 were album sales. This gave Drake his ninth US number-one album. It was displaced by Slipknot's We Are Not Your Kind one week later. The album also debuted at number one on the Canadian Albums Chart, earning 10,000 album-equivalent units and becoming Drake's ninth Canadian number-one album.
Track listing
Credits adapted from Tidal and YouTube Music.
Notes
There is a remix of "Draft Day" featuring vocals from Sky Blu of LMFAO.
^[a] signifies a co-producer
"The Motion" features background vocals by Sampha
"4PM in Calabasas" features uncredited vocals by Frank Dukes.
"Club Paradise" contains background vocals from Abel Makkonen Tesfaye
"Heat of the Moment" features uncredited vocals by PartyNextDoor
"Girls Love Beyoncé" features background vocals by Wade O. Brown
"Can I" features additional vocals by Beyoncé
Samples
"Dreams Money Can Buy" contains a sample of "BTSTU (Demo)", written and performed by Jai Paul.
"How Bout Now" contains a sample of "My Heart Belongs to U", written by Donald DeGrate, and Cedric Hailey, as performed by Jodeci.
"Trust Issues" contains an interpolation of "I'm on One", written by Aubrey Graham, Noah Shebib, Tyler Williams, Dwayne Carter, Khaled Khaled, William Roberts and Nikhil Seetharam, as performed by DJ Khaled.
"Days in the East" contains a sample of "Stay", written by Mikky Ekko, Justin Parker and Elof Loelv, as performed by Rihanna.
Personnel
Credits adapted from Tidal.