March 29, 2023
By Nikki Antonesco
Managing Editor
Rapper and singer Don Toliver initially blew up with songs like “After Party” and “Cardigan” due to viral TikTok trends. Now, he has over 26 million monthly listeners, according to Spotify.
Toliver’s third studio album, “Love Sick,” was released on Feb. 24. The regular version of the album includes 16 songs, and the deluxe version contains 20 songs. The album features genres ranging from hip-hop to R&B and trap.
With featured artists on this album like Justin Bieber, James Blake, Brent Faiyaz, Future, Lil Durk, GloRilla, TisaKorean, Toro y Moi, Kali Uchis, Charlie Wilson and Wizkid, you won’t want to miss it.
My favorite songs on the album are “Private Landing” and “Leave The Club.”
“Private Landing,” which has features from Bieber and Future, is the most popular and best song on the album. Throughout the song, there are consistent claps and a bell. The most satisfying part is when Bieber comes in singing “Keep goin,’ mmm.”
You know the song is good when you can recognize it within seconds, and that is exactly the case for “Private Landing.”
The tone of Bieber’s voice makes me reminisce about his music style in the 2010s. The intro is most notable because of its hard beat. You know the song is good when you can recognize it within seconds, and that is exactly the case for “Private Landing.”
“Leave The Club” features GloRilla and Lil Durk, who perfectly complements Toliver’s signature autotuned voice. In certain songs, Toliver sounds incomprehensible, but he pulls through in this one. The features have strong elements that make the song polished and complete.
I love Toliver’s ad libs throughout the song as well. His ad libs are still autotuned, but it works for him. “Leave the Club” will strike listeners as extremely unique due to the constant beat change and flow. Toliver and the featured artists have different styles, and it’s great to hear them all in one song.
Toliver’s career is booming. Just last month, he performed his more popular songs and new releases from “Love Sick” at a music festival in Los Angeles called Rolling Loud. I was unable to attend the music festival in person, but I enjoyed watching a recording of the performance on YouTube.
“Love Sick” differs from Toliver’s previous albums because of its production value, and Toliver has benefitted from its extensive presence on social media.
At 28 years old, Toliver is relatively young and has not reached his final potential. However, he is making his mark by collaborating with dominant forces in the music industry. He is an artist whose talent should not be underestimated, and the outstanding tracks in “Love Sick” make that clear.
