Heaven Or Hell - Don Toliver: Review
is a Houston based rapper and singer who blew up off of some huge features on Travis Scott's Astroworld in 2018, alongside Eminem earlier this year and a staring role in the Jackboys label mixtape late in 2019. With a strong industry backing and a very unique vocal style Don Toliver's debut record was one of the more highly anticipated among hip hop fans in 2020.
Review By Lavender:
It's fair to say that I had some expectation going into this record given how much I loved Don Toliver on one of the many highlights from Travis Scott's Astroworld, Can't Say. He was one of the only solid parts of the Jackboys record last year and he was even tolerable on this years new Eminem record. With such an infectious and recognizable voice I think Toliver has the potential to drop a truly great record but on Heaven Or Hell he plays it so painfully safe that none of his personality or charm is able to shine through.
The record had three songs released in the lead up to the album and I wasn't fond of two of them. Had Enough was included on the Jackboys but was one of the weaker and more forgettable tracks of the bunch. Two of the Migos deliver pretty average verses that do nothing other than eat up time and Toliver shows up with a decent but below average performance compared to the rest of these songs and I'm not sure this needed to be on his own debut record. No Idea is another single and serves as the closing track here and I'm not a huge fan of the track or its placement. Don does some pretty interesting singing but it doesn't amount to much given that most of the song is aimlessly wandering through adlibbed passages before fading out into nothing.
There are a LOT of tracks on this record that could be described as a unique performance by Don but a weak structure and beat or vapid sense of songwriting drag it down. Euphoria features Travis Scott and Kaash Paige and while there isn't really a terrible weak link on the song there isn't much that elevates this track above average and forgettable. Wasted shows off Don's ability to bounce between singing and rapping so effectively that it is impressive but there isn't much else that makes the song interesting or worthwhile beyond that. Company is like traps answer to background music as a boring rendition of Asap Rocky's L$D without as good singing or as charming an instrumental.
The tracks worst moments are when not even Don's vocals live up to their own standard and the songs have absolutely nothing to offer. Heaven Or Hell is the opener and title track that serves as a super tame and completely uneventful track with no structure whatsoever and nothing catchy about it. Candy is the other terrible track with an awful hook that has no semblance of flow and sees Don just stumbling through the track like an uninspired freestyle, do not need it.
When Toliver gives a good performance and can get some help from an interesting beat or good feature it can make for some pretty great tracks here and there. Cardigan does have some very stupid lyrics but they are delivered with a super catchy flow and some great singing. Paired with a glittery spacey instrumental the song is one of the highlights on the album. After Party is an incredibly catchy track with some Mo Bamba style key blips and driving deep percussion in the instrumental. Don is animated in his performance and it makes the hook a hard one to get out of your head.
Can't Feel My Legs was the single that had me excited for this record in the first place. It has the best instrumental on the entire record and the detailed layers of percussion immediately makes the song more interesting. Don's singing is excellent and the hook is solid and smooth which makes this song a big time highlight for the record. Spaceship is a sneaky highlight that has slowly grown to be one of my favorites on the album. Don's zoinked out performance pairs perfectly with the spacey instruental to make one of the coolect sonic palettes the record has to offer. Sheck Wes even comes in on the song with a super interesting feature that stands out and has also grown on me a lot with more listens. No Photos I enjoyed from the moment it first came on, the track is smooth, catchy and fun from start to finish and one of the better all around tracks of the bunch.
Heaven Or Hell isn't the big debut statement I hoped Don Toliver would deliver. The track is an average trap record that sees Don failing to surround himself with producers and songwriters that are not making the most of his performance style. With mainly average beats and only a few truly great hooks this is one of the less memorable trap records I've heard this year, which is not something I expected to find going into the record. While I still think Don has the potential to do great work going forward this just isn't it and save for a few great highlights I don't think I'll be revisiting this one. 4.5/10
