The song heavily samples Jamie xx's remix of Gil Scott-Heron's version of "I'll Take Care of You", written by Brook Benton.

"Take Care" peaked at number seven on the US Billboard Hot 100, while also reaching the top ten in Australia, Denmark, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.

The song's accompanying music video, directed by Yoann Lemoine, depicts simplistic art including Drake and Rihanna's characters in an intimate relationship, with other scenes featuring animals such as a bull, black-throated magpie-jay and tropical fish, and various outdoor landscapes.

"Take Care" was written by Drake (credited as Aubrey Graham), Noah Shebib, Anthony Palman and James Smith, better known as Jamie xx.

[1] Rihanna appears on the track as a featured artist courtesy of the Island Def Jam Music Group.

Photos of the video were released to the internet on March 12, 2012, showing a grayscaled Drake and Rihanna consoling as well as close ups of both artists looking emotional.

[13] Drake explained the concept of the video in an interview, saying: "It's all basically the ups and downs of a relationship but represented in icebergs and fire and animals and just pulsating movement and then you've got me and Rihanna very intimate."

This is shown first with a bull alone, a black-throated magpie-jay flying through the air, a tropical fish, and a peacefully-presented landscape with snow-covered mountains, all presented calm and relaxed.

James Montgomery of MTV praised the video saying, "On Friday, Drake finally premiered his long-in-the-works 'Take Care' clip.

Full of massively icy landscapes, achingly tense slow-motion footage, artfully framed animals and, uh, Rihanna, it is basically Drake personified.

"[15] David Greenwald of Billboard commented, "While the minimalist video focuses on Drake and Rihanna singing and embracing, it's full of luxurious slow-motion photography of a number of animals and landscapes, include a fish, a bird and a dusty buffalo.

"[16] British indie rock band Florence and the Machine covered the song on November 25, 2011 during BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge.

"[20] Amy Lee of The Huffington Post wrote: "Florence sounds natural on the soulful, mournful track, with an added layer of epic provided by the band.

"[21] Describing their cover as "stunning", James Montgomery of MTV News wrote: "Backed by a stirring string section, Florence + the Machine's version of the song isn't as dark and knotty as Drake's original; instead, it's ethereal and downright doleful, starting slow and sleepy but building to a towering crescendo, with Welch lamenting that she's 'loved and lost' while drums pound, keyboards pulse and the strings trill.

[25] On August 1, 2012, American singer Leon Thomas III released his debut mixtape Metro Hearts.

The resulting track was posted across hundreds of blogs and received generally favorable reviews, being called "seamless" and definitely worth a listen".

Rob Markman of MTV praised the track and described the song saying, "The Jamie xx-produced 'Take Care', with its pounding bass drum and sparse piano melody, tells the story of two lovers ready to leave behind their sketchy pasts in favor of a fruitful relationship together.

Drake and Rih's real-life fling (one the rapper addressed on 2010's "Fireworks") only helps to enhance the song's appeal.

Standing as both an endearing duet and a club banger, it's the danceable, Gil-Scott Heron-sampling house build toward the end of the song that truly makes it a standout.

"[30] Tim Sendra of AllMusic also commended Rihanna's vocal performance, calling it "typically great" and continued to write that "Take Care" is the "most unique" song on the album.

[35] "Take Care" was released to US rhythmic contemporary radio on January 17, 2012, serving as the official fifth single from Drake's second studio album of the same name.

The song managed to remain towards the bottom of the chart until the single's release, when it rose into the top ten to number nine on February 19, 2012.

[39] Upon the release of the album Take Care, the title track managed to immediately debut within the top ten of the US Billboard Hot 100, at number nine, with respectable sales of over 162,000 digital copies.

[41][42] On September 25, 2019, the single was certified quintuple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales exceeding 5 million copies in the United States.