While on his press run in promotion of Love Sick, Houston’s Don Toliver stopped by The Joe Budden Podcast, where the hosts continuously praised his discography. Toliver’s third-studio album is already critically-acclaimed as one of this year’s best projects. The Cactus Jack signee remains humble during his appearance in what Joe Budden calls a “full circle moment.” “This is my second time speaking to you, and my second time seeing you,” Joe recalls.
Fans of the two may remember them both sharing footage of their first run-in over five years ago. As Joe Budden prepared to go inside a New York City office, he was stopped by a young Don Toliver and his collaborator-friend YungJosh93. The two men asked Joe to check their music out as they handed him a CD. The podcast personality accepted it, but not before giving the up-and-comers a solid word of advice. “Hey, stop handing CDs out. No CDs,” he tells them in the nine-second clip.
A Young Don Toliver Approaches Joe Budden
“This n***a was outside with his music,” Joe Budden remembers on the Patreon-exclusive pod. It appeared to work out in Don’s favor rather quickly, as he goes on to chime in about their chance encounter. “I’m in that mode before I meet you, right,” the “4 Me” singer tells Joe. “I give you the record… By the time I get back to Houston I met the DJ that I’m working with today.” In his version of their meeting, Don Toliver says he and YungJosh were promoting their music outside of The Breakfast Club when they noticed Joe. “We rented a car and slept in the car. We was like ‘Alright, it’s six in the morning, we finna’ go wait outside for Angela Yee and Charlemagne.’”
Years later, their hustle has proven to have paid off tremendously as the 28-year-old awaits his Billboard 200 entry for Love Sick. The project, which was released on February 17th, sees features from everyone from GloRilla to Justin Bieber. Don Toliver surprised fans earlier this week with a deluxe version, which includes his “Embarrased” single with label head Travis Scott. The two performed the track during a live show at Irving Plaza on February 28th.
New music is coming in heavy this Friday (March 3). The latest offering comes from Kali Uchis who’s just released her long-awaited third studio album, Red Moon in Venus. The album’s title is a reference to the rare astronomical event that occurs when a red moon aligns with Venus, the planet of love. Kali Uchis uses this metaphor as she explores the highs and lows of romantic relationships throughout the ethereal 15-track project.
The Colombian-American singer-songwriter’s unique blend of R&B, Latin, and Pop music has made her a standout star, and her new LP is one of the greatest examples of Uchis’ creative prowess. Red Moonin Venus leads with a delicate message to Uchis’ lover in the opener “in My Garden…,” floating forward to the dreamy “I Wish You Roses” single. The album continues on with lush ballads and production from Kali herself, along with Benny Blanco, WondaGurl, Darkchild and more. Red Moon in Venus also sees features from Summer Walker, Don Toliver, and longtime collaborator Omar Apollo.
Listen to Kali Uchis’ “Red Moon In Venus”
On Kali Uchis’ vulnerable “Fantasy” track with partner Don Toliver, the songstress voices her love languages and relationship goals. “Babe if you don’t worship me it just don’t work for me / Love all on me (everyone needs love) / Forget all the foolery, stay on me like jewelry / On my body, don’t let go of me,” she sings. Toliver doesn’t take her words in jest, and even admits he wants to start a family with the bilingual vocalist. The song’s production is more upbeat than most on Red Moon in Venus, and is a lofty continuation of their previously-released collaboration “4 Me.”
The album takes a turn from the more intense, lovey tracks as we listen to Kali and Summer Walker’s “Deserve Me” single, teased earlier this week. The crooners’ voices transcend on the four-minute track as they air their grievances about failing unions. True to form, Kali Uchis incorporates her signature Latin lyrics, which she also does on Red Moon’s “Como Te Quiero Yo” and “Hasta Cuando.” Uchis’ new project can now be streamed on Apple Music, Spotify, and SoundCloud.
Travis Scott is holding true to is word of throwing support behind his Catus Jack label artist. The rapper made a surprise appearance during signee Don Toliver’s Love Sick album release concert last night (February 28) at Irving Plaza in New York City. Despite only dropping the project on February 24th, the musician wasted no time in quickly following up with a deluxe edition.
Although Scott isn’t listed as a guest feature on the standard album (which spawned singles “Private Landing” and “Leave The Club“), the pair do lock in a collaboration on “Embarrassed,” which is featured on the deluxe album. The crowd erupted after Scott took the stage to perform their joint song.
| Travis Scott e Don Toliver cantaram ontem pela primeira vez ao vivo a nova música ‘Embarrassed’ na IRVING PLAZA em Nova York. pic.twitter.com/Lsn6fqHtg7
— Travis Scott Brasil (@PortalTravisBRA) March 1, 2023
Unfortunately, the fun ended after the show as reports have come out that Scott was arrested for allegedly assaulting a sound engineer of New York City nightclub Nebula and causing roughly $12k in equipment damages.
This isn’t Toliver’s last concert is slated to join Future’s One Big Party Tour later this month.
View the full tour schedule below.
03/09 — New Orleans, LA @ Smoothie King Center
03/12 — Dallas, TX @ American Airlines Center
03/17 — Fort, Lauderdale @ FLA Live Arena
03/19 — Jacksonville, FL @ Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena
03/24 — Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Arena
03/25 — Columbus, OH @ Nationwide Arena
03/26 — Milwaukee, WI @Fiserv Forum
04/01 — Oakland, CA @ Oakland Arena
04/06 — Indianapolis, IN @ Gainbridge Fieldhouse
04/07 — Kansas City, MO@ T-Mobile Center
04/08 — Minneapolis, MN @ Target Center
Don Toliver is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
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In the leadup to the release of his third album, Love Sick, Houston rapper-singer Don Toliver said enough of the right things to make me believe that this would be the project of his that would finally tell us who he is.
“On this particular album, I really locked in on the actual story and the theme of the album and basically the tracklist is going in sequence, in motion of the actual story, of what it will be,” he said in one interview.
“I want people to listen to my music and think it’s timeless,” he echoed in another. “To think about Marvin Gaye, Sade, Jay-Z, and just listen again. All I strive for is to be in the conversation with some of the greatest of all time.”
The one thing all of those greats did, though, is put themselves into their music. When you push play on “Song Cry,” you get the impression that Jay is letting us in on a moment in his life. When Marvin Gaye made “What’s Goin’ On?” it was considered a massive creative risk, but it was a sentiment he cared about deeply enough to take that risk.
With Don Toliver, I’ve never gotten the impression that I’m learning anything about him or what he truly cares about in his music. I tend to believe that he’s the consummate aesthete – his presentation is everything, and he’s going for a look rather than a feel.
The feeling that pervaded his prior releases Heaven Or Hell and Life Of A Don is that his primary preoccupation in making them was imitating and improving upon the aesthetics of stylistic forebears like his mentor Travis Scott, Future (both of whom appear here), and Young Thug – i.e. the wounded melodic howling, eerie vocal effects, and clipped, erratic rap deliveries that made them stand out from the pack when they first broke out in the middle of the last decade.
Love Sick, on the other hand, seemed like it would be a step forward when we’d begin to see more of the artist in his work. Love, after all, is the most personal and primal of human emotions, even as it remains the most universal. If any subject could crack the facade and reveal the interiority missing from Toliver’s past projects, this would be it.
After a few listens to Love Sick, though, I still haven’t figured out who Don Toliver is.
Don’t get me wrong; it’s a polished, pleasant body of work. If nothing else, he’s upped his game with regard to developing his own artistic flourishes. Perhaps credit belongs to his expanded roster of production partners. After all, it’s hard not to notice that the Kaytranada-produced “Honeymoon” is a standout, nor is the dreamy quality of “Let Her Go,” which features James Blake.
The hyperfocus on subject matter allows Toliver much more room to play around sonically. So while there are still cavernous club 808s and bellowing synthetic bass lines aplenty – “Leave The Club” is a prime example – “Leather Club” finds a smooth, almost ‘80s adult contemporary vibe well suited to his Drake-lite lamentations of one-directional affections.
“Slow Motion” with Wizkid is a surprising dance floor banger that goes in a completely different direction than you’d expect with the Afropop star involved, “If I Had” recruits quiet storm favorite Charlie Wilson for a classic example of the genre, and Chicago heads will almost certainly figure out a few new juke steps to “Bus Stop.”
Throughout Love Sick, I get the feeling that Don Toliver is a nice guy who is really kind of a music nerd, someone collaborators really enjoy testing out new sounds with. But there’s still no sense of identity, that undefinable something that instantly lets you know when you’re hearing a song from Future, Travis Scott, or Young Thug.
The good news is that Toliver is really good at executing an idea, and that’s a step in the right direction for where he wants to be. Coming up with a concept and making music that effectively conveys those ideas is really hard – that’s why we hold such respect for artists. If Love Sick has more style than substance, that style is really charming and enjoyable.
And if Toliver hadn’t managed to at least do that much, we wouldn’t be talking about him at all. If he wants us to talk about him in the same breath as Sade Adu, he’s laid a decent foundation for that conversation to take place. But he still needs to give us something to talk about. He’s almost there.
Love Sick is out now via Cactus Jack and Atlantic Records.
Don Toliver is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Don Toliver has wasted no time in answering a question many of his fans had almost from the first instant his new album Love Sick hit the DSPs: Will he release a deluxe edition?
Yes, yes he did. Just four days after the release of his third album, the Houston rap crooner followed up by adding four new songs, tapping his mentor Travis Scott and Texan rising star Teezo Touchdown to feature on “Embarrassed” and “Luckily I’m Having,” respectively. The other two new songs are “Geronimo” and “No Pole.” All four songs continue the album’s theme of addressing various aspects of love.
Toliver revealed the original tracklist by means of a string of posts highlighting the featured artists with vintage art. Those features include Brent Faiyaz, Charlie Wilson, GloRilla, Future, James Blake, Justin Bieber, Don’s girlfriend Kali Uchis, Lil Durk, TisaKorean, Toro y Moi, and Wizkid. He also released a playlist of songs from the album with visuals forming an episodic short film which you can watch here.
The updated tracklist for the deluxe edition of Love Sick can be found below.
1. “No Pole”
2. “Embarrassed” Feat. Travis Scott
3. “Geronimo”
4. “Luckily I’m Having” Feat. Teezo Touchdown
5. “LoveSickness”
6. “Let Her Go” Feat. James Blake
7. “Leave The Club” Feat. GloRilla & Lil Durk
8. “4 Me” Feat. Kali Uchis
9. “Go Down” Feat. TisaKorean
10. “Time Heals All”
11. “Leather Coat”
12. “Honeymoon”
13. “Private Landing” Feat. Future & Justin Bieber
14. “Slow Motion” Feat. Wizkid
15. “Do It Right”
16. “If I Had” Feat. Charlie Wilson
17. “Company Pt. 3”
18. “Bus Stop” Feat. Brent Faiyaz
19. “Cinderella” Feat. Toro Y Moi
20. “Encouragement”
In addition to his much-anticipated third studio album, as well as an accompanying short film, it appears we’re getting even more music from Don Toliver. Fresh off the release of his Love Sick album last Friday (February 24), Toliver has confirmed that a deluxe edition is on the way.
He revealed the news in the above tweet, where he also teased new music from Travis Scott, as well as the Cactus Jack crew. However, Toliver did not specify an exact release date.
Though, it appears the deluxe is coming sooner than we think. According to audio engineer 206Derek, who worked on Love Sick, the deluxe may arrive as early as today (February 28).
Don Toliver’s engineer teases that the ‘Love Sick’ deluxe will be releasing tomorrow pic.twitter.com/uSImmJqmjk
While it may seem like a quick turnaround time for a deluxe edition, it’s all part of Toliver’s plan to create a timeless catalog. He expressed to British GQ last year that he wants his music to be thought of among the greats.
“I want people to listen to my music and think it’s timeless,” Toliver said. “To think about Marvin Gaye, Sade, Jay-Z, and just listen again. All I strive for is to be in the conversation with some of the greatest of all time.”
In the mean time, you can stream Love Sickhere, and watch the short film on Prime Video.
Don Toliver is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Don Toliver is in major-label album mode right now. The “After Party” rapper’s Love Sickalbum, produced with hitmakers like Boi-1da and James Blake (with whom he also shares a song on the album called “Let Her Go”), has finally dropped. The project features guest appearances from some of music’s biggest acts— GloRillla, Lil Durk, Brent Faiyaz, and more. On Friday (February 24), the Cactus Jack artist released a visualizer for the track “Private Landing,” featuring Future and Justin Bieber.
“I don’t know why these h*es can’t stand me/I guess I’m too demanding,” he raps. “Wanna hit the double Coke, the candy (Candy)/I’m so high, no landing (Landing).”
In the visualizer, Toliver can be overheard rapping as a special package is being delivered in what seems to be the “Love Sick” restaurant. This fictional food joint serves as the inspiration behind the project. A beautiful woman is seen putting away stacks of cash, with two armored guards standing by while the chef is busy whipping up some food.
The 16-track album also features popular acts such as WizKid, Kali Uchis, Charlie Wilson, and more. The project is also accompanied by a short film titled Love Sick: The Short Film, released on Prime the same day as the album release.
Check out the visualizer above.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
The most romantic month of the year is nearly over. Still, we have one last R&B Season update of February left, and it may leave you feeling Love Sick. This New Music Friday (February 24), Don Toliver shared his latest album. Reactions so far have been mixed. However, many can admit it finds the Houston native feeling more ambitious than ever before.
The 16-track effort had several standout titles that earned a spot on our playlist, beginning with “Let Her Go” featuring James Blake. The song is emotional in nature and beautifully combines Toliver’s unique vocals with the producer’s signature sombre sound.
Other titles from Love Sick that we find R&B Season worthy are “Bus Stop” and “Slow Motion.” The former includes a coveted appearance from WASTELAND artist Brent Faiyaz. The latter, on the other hand, leans into the Afrobeats phenomenon with Wizkid’s feature. If you’re a fan of the Toliver recommendations, we highly suggest you stream the full album when you have time.
Another highly anticipated arrival this weekend came from Chlöe, who’s inching toward the debut of her first solo album. She previously spent years making music in a duo with her little sister, Halle Bailey. More recently they’ve been exploring other areas of their career on their own. Following her “Pray It Away” single a few weeks back, the Atlanta native announced a collaboration with Chris Brown.
Of course, both singers faced significant backlash as a result, but they’ve been pushing forward regardless and showing each other plenty of support. The joint track is called “How Does It Feel,” and it’s certainly everything you would expect an R&B anthem to be. In the accompanying music video, both Bailey and Breezy put their impressive dance moves on display as well.
Another female vocalist preparing to stun the world with a project is none other than Kali Uchis. She gave listeners a taste of what’s to come with “Moonlight,” this weekend, already amassing nearly two million streams on Spotify alone. Apart from her solo release, the Colombian beauty also appears on Toliver’s Love Sick album.
Our final two picks of the week are Lavi$h’s “World In My Hands,” and Jozzy’s “Alone.” Stream it all exclusively on Spotify below, and let us know what your favourite new additions are in the comments. If you need more release recommendations, be sure to check out our Fire Emoji update as well.
Since 2018’s Donny Womack project, Don Toliver has come an undeniably long way. Two years later he gave us Heaven Or Hell, and in 2021 we heard Life of a DON for the first time. The 28-year-old’s musical range only continues to expand with age and practice, which explains why his most recent arrival, Love Sick is by far his most ambitious to date. The 16-track effort arrived at midnight on Friday (February 24), boasting an impressive roster of guest features from friends.
The Houston native teamed up with Lil Durk and GloRilla for the previously released “Leave The Club,” and his girlfriend, Kali Uchis, joins him on the sensual “4 Me” single. James Blake, Wizkid, Brent Faiyaz, and Toro y Moi all came through as well, though the real fan favourite so far is titled “Private Landing.” On the nearly four-minute-long title, Toliver works with Justin Bieber and Future.
Justin Bieber & Future Join Don Toliver in the “Private Landing” Visual
Cardo, Omar Guetfa, Rob Bisel, and 206Derek have all been credited with the song’s production, while the trio of multi-talents handle the vocals. The “Drugs N Hella Melodies” artist begins with the chorus and a first verse with bars about poppin’ at the Ritz and being in bed with a super soaker. Afterward, it’s the Atlanta native’s time to shine.
“Tiffany come blue, her p*ssy good and pink / Chicago in the wintertime, I’m orderin’ minks,” is just one of his clever rhymes. “Sellin’ out arenas, I just murked the streets / Coppin’ a brand new castle in the Middle East.” For Bieber’s part, he mostly shows off his coveted vocal skills on the bridge with Toliver before reminding listeners that he’s got some rap skills in his arsenal as well.
Stream Don Toliver’s “Private Landing” featuring Future and Justin Bieber on Spotify or Apple Music below. Afterward, revisit the Cactus Jack artists’ Love Sick album here. Make sure to check back later for more music news and release recommendations.
Quotable Lyrics:
Tiffany come blue, her p*ssy good and pink Chicago in the wintertime, I’m orderin’ minks Sellin’ out arenas, I just murked the streets Coppin’ a brand new castle in the Middle East
| Travis Scott e Don Toliver cantaram ontem pela primeira vez ao vivo a nova música ‘Embarrassed’ na IRVING PLAZA em Nova York. 
