The Ride | ‘24 NFL Draft | College Hoops Top 25 | YouTube Rabbithole
Alright @YouTheReader,
The Ride is the 18th song and Outro of Drake’s sophomore studio album Take Care. I started writing these Mock Draft Mondays with this album on in the background back on July 24th. This will complete the 3rd project of annotating his lyrics of ‘23. While I get Drake may not be everybody's cup of tea, the concept of doing whatever the hell this is on an artist's albums from start to finish has been pretty cool.
Outro’s on albums, especially in hip-hop can have a massive impact on what a listener thinks of their body of work. It’s their “in conclusion” part of an essay. All in all, Take Care is littered with a bunch of hits that many people know from parties or them being on the radio at this time such as Headlines, HYFR, Take Care, Crew Love, and Marvin’s Room. Drake closes out the album opening up about his ride in the music industry.
Sheesh. I had to look up what an oxblood suit is. Very fresh, clean maroon look. This Verse is set in the present day of the album. (Fall of ‘11).
The Weeknd lays the background vocals and chorus, which in hindsight makes this tune that much better.
In Verse 2, Drizzy takes us back to before his music career took off. Rappers, especially back in the ‘00s, had to maintain an image of being rich like driving expensive cars. This was probably a low point in that he’s admitting to maintain this image he had to steal his own mother’s debit card to rent expensive cars. Most rappers would ride around in tricked-out tinted cars, but the rental cars must not have been tinted.
Can’t really relate to that, but I get wanting something so bad you gotta tell yourself you’re in it part. How could you ever expect someone else to believe in you if you don’t believe in yourself?
This line resets the verse, while also telling listeners they should rewind to what he just said.
His best nights were when he was at the studio pulling all-nighters and recording music. Apartment 1503 was Noah “40” Shebib’s, Drake’s producer, who used the living space as a studio when they made So Far Gone. (Source: GQ Music)
40 in an interview with GQ backs this story, “He was distraught one night and showed up with $1,000 worth of champagne and I’m cussing at him because we’re all broke and trying to make this shit work! Meanwhile, he’s renting Phantoms and shit. It’s all documented…He just came back in the room and said, I need to rap. Make me something. In 45 minutes, I made “The Calm” and he wrote those bars as I made the beat. Over the next five or six hours, that record unfolded in its entirety.”
I’ve definitely shared my fair share of Guinness pints…
Hopefully, people don’t hate that I added that little font above or some of the stories I’ve shared on my #GuinnessChallengeSeason along the way, but whatever, that’s out of my control!
Don’t mind me, I’m just going to turn the volume on this one up a bit more.
Terminals 1 and 3 must be a part of an airport in Toronto so here Drake is talking about when he is in the middle of The Ride when he would record music on the road in the US. I know a thing or two about the runway of something being cold, whenever you start anything it’s never going to be easy. I also do know a thing or two about alcohol, city lights, and slow songs, but instead, it’ll be 11 months of Pint&Pent&Papers after this week.
All’s well at home. I mean I’m not going to write about how my latest uncle duties had me going to ShopRite in Pearl River on a Sunday morning with a list of groceries. Imagine I ran into somebody and actually had to have a conversation without a proper pint or two, phew, too close a call.
This could be a backhanded compliment/diss at either Jay-Z or Lil Wayne. Drake, who was 25 when he made Take Care, loved going after peers his senior. Yoda was obviously full of wisdom, much like his mentors Jay-Z and Lil Wayne, who had previously been on top of hip-hop.
Wow, this is pretty timely. Weird how that lined up. I just held my nephew for the first time this morning. He doesn’t have a chip on his shoulder, he’s 3 days old and just a blob, but maybe if I keep grinding on my ride he won’t have as big a chip on his shoulder. I’m still in Sophomore Slump, but hopefully, I don’t have to be a big meanie in Year 3. Nothing Was The Same is Drake’s next album on deck. I’ll save that for Year 3 and we’ll just play some of his featured hits on Mondays until the ‘24 NFL Draft.
Look, obviously, I can’t relate to Drake’s Ride, but hopefully, if you take anything away from this it’s that nothing in life comes easy or guaranteed. I have no idea where this Week to Week Notes ride will take me a week, month, or year from now, all I can do is work on it today. If you’re in the middle of your own ride, keep grinding at it, and if you feel like you haven’t started yours, it’s never too late. The hardest part is always the start.
Let’s talk ball…
These numerical rankings are subject to change. After today, we’ve profiled 150 College Football players, which would nearly cover the 1st 5 Rounds of the NFL Draft. I got all 150 players' profiles saved on a draft that I promise I won’t send you (it’s a 166-minute read and still growing), but just for context the Mel Kiper’s of the world cover anywhere from 250 to 300 prospects, so I still got a ways to go. Eventually, the plan is to start making Mock Drafts with NFL teams once the draft order is more finite.
Ladd McConkey is from Chatsworth, Georgia, a small town in the middle of the state and 2.5 hours from Athens. The redshirt junior was a 3-star prospect out of high school and was rated the 23rd-best WR in the state of Georgia. Now he is at the top of the depth chart for the #1 team in the country. In ‘20, McConkey redshirted and was a member of the scout team. In ‘21, the coaches of the SEC named him a part of the SEC All-Freshman Team as he had 31 catches for 447 yards and 5 TDs. Last year the coaches of the SEC named him 2nd Team All-SEC as he had 58 catches for 762 yards and 7 TDs. The 6’ WR is a nice route runner and has experience as a punt returner. This season, off the field, the National Football Foundation named McConkey a Scholar-Athlete for his brains in the classroom. Unfortunately, on the field, McConkey has been hampered with injury but in 5 full games, he’s had 25 catches for 407 yards and 2 scores.
Jermaine Burton is from Calabasas, California. A 4-star prospect out of high school, Burton initially chose to play for Georgia. As a Bulldog for 2 years, Burton totaled 53 catches for 901 yards and 8 TDs. After ‘21, Burton decided to transfer to Alabama. He immediately started 12 games at Bama as a junior transfer and led the team in receiving yards last year with 677. This year as a senior, the Cali Kid playing football in the south is having his best collegiate season yet. His 22.1 yards per catch leads the SEC and is top-5 in all of College Football. Burton is a big play threat who has never averaged less than 15 yards per catch in a season.
Landon Jackson is from Texarkana, Texas, which gets its name because it is on the border of TEXas and ARKansas while also being close to LouisiANA. A 4-star prospect out of high school, Jackson had 45 sacks while playing Texas high school football - 17 of which came his junior season. The defensive end had offers from Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Baylor, Florida State, and Tennessee, but chose to play for LSU. After a ‘21 freshman season where he played special teams for the Tigers, Jackson decided to transfer to Arkansas. Last year for the Razorbacks, the 6’7” defender made 7 starts with 23 tackles and 3 sacks. This season Jackson has improved to 6.5 sacks. Landon Jackson has Alopecia, which got him bullied when he was a kid. “I finally got to the point where I embraced it and didn’t care what other people felt.” Not for nothing, I think the bald shave for a defensive lineman is a tough look.
Cameron Ward is from West Columbia, Texas, which is about an hour drive south of Houston. Ward already has NFL in his blood as he is related to Quandre Diggs plays for the Seattle Seahawks and Quintin Jammer plays for the San Diego Chargers. Initially out of high school, Cameron Ward played for the Incarnate Word University which is a FCS program based in San Antonio. In ‘20 as a freshman, Ward was the recipient of the Jerry Rice Award given to the best freshman in the FCS. He followed up that season with 47 TD passes in ‘21 which got him named to FCS All-American Second Team. Last year Ward transferred to Washington State and despite to jump in competition, the 6’2” QB held his own with 23 passing TDs to 9 INTs while throwing 64.4% for 3,231 yards. This season for the Cougars, Ward is in the midst of a 25 TD campaign and this weekend he played great in the Apple Cup against Washington, throwing for 317 yards and 3 TDs against the #4 ranked team in the country. When Washington’s defensive coordinator was asked if Ward is comparable to anybody else his team has played, Chuck Morrell said, "The guy at USC. Very similar." While I’m not quite sure if Cameron Ward will be a 1st Round prospect like Caleb Williams, he remains intriguing and would be a guy I’d hope the Jets target in the middle rounds if he makes it there.
Beau Brade is from Clarksville, Maryland. One of his biggest sports thrills as a kid was watching the Baltimore Ravens win Super Bowl XLVII. Brade’s favorite players were Ray Lewis and Ed Reed. Out of high school, Brade chose Maryland over Michigan, North Carolina, West Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Wake Forest. As a freshman in ‘20, Brade primarily just played special teams and in ‘21 as a sophomore, Brade was in a reserve role. Last year was his first season as a starter and he made up for the lost time by leading the Terps in tackles with 85. He also had 5 pass breakups, 2 INTs, and 2 forced fumbles. This earned him an Honorable Mention in the All-Big Ten. This year as a senior, Brade has 72 tackles and an INT. He had one of his best games of the season against Michigan, as he set a career-high in solo tackles with 10. Brade’s nose for football and experience in special teams should make him a contributor right out of college in the pros.
Week 3 since asking the Associated Press to update when they release their College Basketball Top 25 Rankings to Sundays. I for one am absolutely shocked. I’m going to have to craft up a creative follow-up email if I don’t hear back this week.
Oso Ighodaro is from Chandler, Arizona. In high school, he won an Arizona state title, scoring 32 points with 11 rebounds and 6 blocks in the championship game. His freshman season at Marquette was in ‘20-’21 where he only played 5 games and missed 9 due to injury. In his sophomore season, the 6’11” lanky big man played in 32 games while averaging 5.5 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 0.9 blocks per game. It wasn’t until last year that Ighodaro received his first collegiate start as he would make 36 of them as a junior. As a starter, he averaged 11.4 points, 5.9 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.5 blocks per game. This earned him All-Big East 2nd Team last season. He has increased his production every year and thus far is off to a hot start, averaging a career-high 15 points and 7.3 rebounds. Oso Ighodaro has some nice touch around the rim, which includes a floater, but also has the ability to posterize people off the dribble. Well-rounded game for a big guy.
Baylor Scheierman is from Aurora, Nebraska. As a senior in high school, he averaged 22.1 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 6.5 assists per game. He also played QB, throwing for 4,000 passing yards with 59 passing TDs. Out of high school, Baylor Scheierman first played college hoops for South Dakota State. After starting his collegiate career off the bench, Scheierman made 23 starts as a sophomore while averaging 15.4 points and 9.2 rebounds to go with 4 assists. At 6’7”, this big guard uses all of his height on the boards. In ‘21-’22, SDSU made the NCAA Tournament and Scheierman had a double-double on the national stage with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Last year, Scheierman transferred to Creighton and his game seamlessly transitioned against better Big East competition. Throughout his career, the lefty guard has shot 40% from beyond the arc, which when you combine with his rebounding, might give him a shot at the NBA.
Anton Watson is from Spokane, Washington, and attended Gonzaga Prep for high school. He won a pair of high school state titles for Gonzaga Prep and decided to stay local. In his first 3 seasons at Gonzaga University, Watson was a reserve role player. Last year, Watson made 37 starts for the team and he had an uptick in production averaging 11.1 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. This year through 5 games, Watson as a grad-student senior is leading the team in scoring and rebounds with 16.6 points to go with 8 boards per game. In his last game against UCLA, Watson just scored a career-high 32 points.
Antonio Reeves is Chicago-born and raised. His favorite Kentucky Wildcat player is Tyler Herro. Despite averaging 21.7 points per game in high school, Reeves was seen as a 3-star prospect and he started his collegiate career close to home at Illinois State. After being a reserve for the Redbirds as a freshman, Reeves cracked the starting lineup at Illinois State as a sophomore averaging 12.4 points per game. In his junior year, he made another large leap, averaging 20.1 points per game, becoming the first player at Illinois State to do so since ‘01. Reeves was able to catch the eye of John Calipari as he transferred to Kentucky last. He made appearances in all 34 games and got 14 starts for the Wildcats, which earned him SEC 6th Man of the Year for his 14.4 points per game off the bench. His 80 3-pointers made led the team. This year, Antonio Reeves has been inserted into the starting lineup of a young Kentucky team and is providing great veteran leadership while leading the team in scoring with 19 per game. He is off to a career-high in 3-point percentage, hitting at a 45% clip.
Jimmy Bell Jr. is from Saginaw, Michigan. During high school in Michigan, Bell Jr. was a 2-sport athlete who also played offensive line for the football team. To finish off his high school years, the 6’10” forward moved to Scottsdale, Arizona, and lost an incredible 80 pounds as he decided he wanted to focus solely on hoops. Out of high school, Bell Jr. first attended college at St. Louis University. As a freshman, he made 30 starts while averaging 3.8 points and 3.1 rebounds. In his sophomore season, Bell Jr. saw less playing time so after ‘21 he decided to transfer to a junior college in in Moberly, Missouri. While at Moberly Area Community College, Jimmy Bell Jr. averaged 9.3 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. This caught the attention of West Virginia. Bob Huggins of West Virginia gave Bell Jr. 34 more starts and he was able to average 4.8 points with 5.2 rebounds per game. Jimmy Bell Jr., now a grad-student senior, once again transferred to another school, this time Mississippi. In 6 games thus far, he has made 6 starts and is averaging a career-high in points (10) and rebounds (9.5). Jimmy Bell Jr. has been all over the country and looks like he might’ve just found the best spot for him at Mississippi State. Cool story of resilience.