Don Toliver was feeling the love all of February.
“The month of love” seemingly sparked inspiration for the Cactus Jack crooner, as Toliver’s third studio album, Love Sick, fittingly cued in Valentine’s Day celebrations this year. Sharing the record on Feb. 24, Donny’s love-laced effort features 16 tracks and a slew of star talent in Brent Faiyaz (“Bus Stop”) Future, Justin Bieber (“Private Landing”) James Blake (“Let Her Go”) Toro Y Moi (“Cinderella”) and more.
Along with seating fans at the “Lovesick Diner & Grill” in his Amazon Prime short film, the Houston native dropped the LP’s deluxe days after its release (Feb. 28). Touting four new tracks with appearances from Travis Scott and Teezo Touchdown, Toliver’s Love Sick era has proven to be an overdose of heart-strung hits. New cuts in “Poles,” “Embarassed” with Scott, “Geronimo” and “Luckily I’m Having” with Teezo immediately assert themselves as a few of the most catchy cuts on the record — with all three Texas natives flexing their star power ten-fold.
Toliver later announced the Love Sick tour in April — a 15-city North American trek that kicks off June 18 in Denver, Colorado and concludes on July 16 in San Francsico, California. Bringing along Pi’erre Bourne and other special guests for the ride, the feelings Love Sick brings forth becomes real when it hits the road. Tickets go on sale Friday (April 7) at 10 a.m. PST.
Dropping a Valentine’s Day ode to his longtime girlfriend Kali Uchis, who’s featured on “4 Me,” Don doubled down with his third single in “Leave The Club” with Lil Durk and Glorilla ahead of the album’s release. Love Sick’s lead cut “Do It Right” (Nov. 2022) was his first solo release in over a year. Each song — and coinciding dance snippets — injects a fun, carefree feeling that plays into Love Sick’s nostalgic concept.
Even prolific electronic producer Kaytranada aids Don on the “third episode” of the album, “Honeymoon,” as highlights in “Leather Coat,” “Company Pt. 3,” “Time Heals All” and more continue to showcase Toliver’s timeless talent and ability to craft masterful slow jams that feel of-the-moment. Alongside high-polished production and vocal variance that floods the record, the narratives found throughout Love Sick are not only meaningful, but sees Toliver bare his soul dripped in infectious melody. “Remember when Ye said I was timeless / Same time, me and Travis out for our tier” he raps on “Encouragement,” further proving Don’s star power has reached its full potential on Love Sick.
The LOAD star initially teased his comeback at Rihanna’s sultry “Savage X Fenty Show, Vol. 4” in November 2022. A month later, the rapper opened up about the record being more “conceptual” in an interview for CLASH Magazine’s Autumn / Winter Issue. “Sometimes you really want to give the fans something fresh and new,” he said. “I really locked in on the actual story and the theme of the album.”
Toliver has been riding the success of his sophomore album Life Of A DON since October 2021. Following both international and domestic tours, he and Metro Boomin recently teased a joint project of their own alongside murmurs of Don’s then-forthcoming album. Toliver found himself featured three times on Metro’s acclaimed sophomore album HEROES & VILLAINS in December, igniting calls for a collab tape.
Despite not dropping a solo effort since 2021, he’s been quite active as a feature artist — hopping on labelmate SoFaygo’s debut record Pink Heartz (“Slip”) as well as “Ain’t Safe” with Trippie Redd, “Honest” (Justin Bieber) and “One Time” (NAV and Future) in 2022. Most recently, Don and Zack Bia teamed up for a “Hardcore” banger that further illustrated his club-sound breakout.
With Love Sick curing his faint of heart, Donny’s description of love stretches to the “Moon” and back.
This story will be updated.
Check out “Lovesick” below!
