Album Review: Don Toliver Continues to Deliver Catchy Choruses on 'Heaven or Hell'

Jackboy Don Toliver makes sure you’ll have one of his tracks stuck in your head this week.

Written by Thomas Galindo

Don Toliver sang the lyrics “you got two choices, either heaven or hell, meanwhile put that dope on the scale,” in the standout track “Had Enough” from the Dec. 2019 album JACKBOYS. JACKBOYS is the collaborative group of rappers that are signed to Travis Scott’s record label, Cactus Jack Records, consisting of Scott himself, Don Toliver, Chase B, Sheck Wes, and Luxury Tax. The self-titled project of seven songs showed Don Toliver step into the spotlight and deliver the most impressive melodies on the most quality songs on the project, including “GANG GANG,” “HAD ENOUGH,” and “WHAT TO DO?”.

Coming off this impressive performance on JACKBOYS and a handful of infectious grooves from his 2018 debut album, Donny Womack, which dropped the same weekend as Travis Scott’s Astroworld, rap fans fully expected Don to deliver some bops that would garner him mainstream success on this upcoming album. While Don has already achieved a great deal of mainstream success due to his show-stopping verse and chorus on “CAN’T SAY” from Astroworld and the previously-mentioned songs on JACKBOYS, his recognition has never been undivided, with all of these songs being collaborations. So, along with several other mainstream rappers like Lil Uzi Vert, Blueface, Rich The Kid, Donald Glover, and more, Don Toliver dropped his new album, Heaven or Hell, this past weekend.

Right off the bat, the nasally Houston-based singer/rapper sets out to establish a dreamy, but mysterious vibe on the opener, “Heaven or Hell.” This sound is not uncommon for him and can be found on songs like “Diamonds” from Donny Womack, the 2019 single “Best You Had,” and “WHAT TO DO?” from JACKBOYS. It gives a feeling of being in a dark, smoke-filled room, in a hazy mindstate, uncertain of who else is in the room, but just going with the flow. Travis Scott and Kaash Paige open the next track “Euphoria,” building on this atmosphere. With Kaash Paige’s calming voice, the peaceful “euphoria, I'm drownin' in euphoria / drownin' in euphoria, drownin' in euphoria” hook sung by both Scott and Paige, and Don’s continuous “ooh” adlibs throughout the track, the song could put any listener to sleep better than Benadryl or Nyquil, and that’s meant in the most complimentary way possible. This song will make you forget about any and all stress in your life for three and a half minutes.

After the first two elegant songs, the rest of the project has scattered bangers where the bass is boosted, and some of the hooks are infectious. The first is “Cardigan” which seemingly contains three, equally catchy hooks, from “I'm finna stand tall in it, I'm all in it, you be on my back like a cardigan,” to “it's evident that you ready to rock, hop up in my Jeep and put your pride to the side,” to “don't stick around, you should save yourself, but you can hit my phone if you need some help,” all repeated at least twice. The next is arguably the highest energy track on the album, “After Party.” The song opens with calm, jazz-like trumpets playing, then Don comes in with a lively chorus that gains momentum after each lyric until the first beat drop. “Okay, I pull up, hop out at the after party / you and all your friends, yeah, they love to get naughty / sippin' on that Henn', I know you love that Bacardi / 1942, I take you back in that 'Rari” is the best hook of the album, which is a great honor, considering Don certainly focused most of his attention on creating earworms in the heads of his listeners. Evident in songs like “Wasted,” “Can’t Feel My Legs,” and the album’s closer “No Idea,” the hooks are the main focus, with verses in between kept brief.

The main criticism of this album is that it lacks substance, and several factors can be to blame for this. Whether it be quick verses that seem almost obligatory to separate the hooks, a short runtime of only 37 minutes, or a fourth of the album having been already released as singles, this album just doesn’t feel like it has much to offer besides catchy hooks. It doesn't delve too deep into the concept of “heaven or hell” in making tough decisions, and mainly relies on Don’s voice to carry songs. While there are a good amount of enjoyable tracks, the entire project did not entirely live up to the anticipation fans had for it. All of the previously released songs (“Had Enough,” “No Idea,” and “Best You Had”) are great tracks, but don’t add enough variety to the rather one-dimensional project. But, the features with Sheck Wes, Quavo, Offset, Travis Scott, and Kaash Paige do help to diversify the sound. Heaven or Hell is a decent album with not much filler, but leaves Don Toliver with lots of room to grow and expand his sound as a young artist.

REVIEWSAfterglow ATXMarch 17, 2020