Make Me Proud

The second single from Drake's sophomore album Take Care finds the Canadian MC expressing his admiration for females who are working on achieving their goals. The song features Nicki Minaj both crooning and rapping and was debuted October 13, 2011 on Funkmaster Flex's Hot 97 radio show.

Drake told Funkmaster Flex the song was inspired by a conversation with a female. "I just want to say this is an important moment for me because I got a lot of records out right now that are anthem, club, party environment," he explained. "A girl actually, a girl whose opinion I respect greatly, hit me and she was like, 'There's nothing on the radio for us right now. There's nothing to make women feel good like they did when we had 'Best I Ever Had,' which was the reference that she made. The song's called 'Make Me Proud.' So it's a moment, go out and make me proud, baby."

Speaking to MTV News, Drake explained the song: "Whenever I make songs surrounding women, I always try to find refreshing stances to take as opposed to just like, 'Oh, you're sexy' or 'Oh, I want you.' The song, it really came up in passing conversation, just being like, 'I'm proud of you.'" he said. "Not even necessarily that a woman has to go achieve grandiose things to be proud; it's just that I'm proud of you for trying. It's hard to be a woman out here these days, especially to be pretty and especially to be smart and want something for yourself. So I'm just proud of you whether it's Nicki or any girl that I've ever known in my life that's doing well for herself."