Cactus Jack artist Don Toliver released his third project “Love Sick” on Feb. 25. This album follows his album “Life of a DON,” which received good reviews, but nowhere near the level of his debut “Heaven Or Hell.”
Based on feelings of love, this project has 16 tracks and a heap of features.
Album Highs
As always, Don Toliver has some of the best beats and production in the game. The r&b trap artist collaborates with well-known producers on “Love Sick,” such as Wheezy, KAYTRANADA, Hit-boy, Dez Wright, James Blake, and more. These all lead to these out-of-the-world beats that fit right into the artist’s niche.
In addition, he continued to play onto his strengths in many songs with dazzling hooks and memorable choruses, such as in “Let Her Go” and “Go Down.”
Also, many featured guests gave outstanding performances, such as Charlie Wilson on “If I Had” or Future and Justin Bieber on “Private Landing.”
However, the two songs that stole the attention were “4 Me,” the love ballad with his partner Kali Uchis, and “Bus Stop,” a Jersey dance song that will sweep the charts.
Album Lows
For his third album, it feels as though little thought went into the entire production. For as many great songs as there are on the album, there is a tolerable one following it. In general, the project does not flow well together and fails to feel like a love album.
While Toliver has never been known as a lyricist, many of his verses are subpar except for songs like “Go Down” and “Honeymoon.”
There are solid performances from all the guest stars, but they do not mix well together. “Private Landing” seems to be a failed attempt at Travis Scott’s “Maria I’m Drunk,” and “Leave the Club” featuring Lil Durk and GloRilla left much to be desired.
Summary
Even with all those issues, there are many great songs that make it hard to hate this album. However, it seems as though Toliver hasn't progressed much since his debut. He has the potential to create an amazing project, but he has yet to try.
Hopefully, since he is his protege, Toliver will attempt a “Rodeo” type project like Travis Scott next time.
After release, he also said that a deluxe version will follow, which will hopefully make up for some of the lows of this album. Poor rollout, lack of pacing, and superficial love songs about lean make “Love Sick” appear worse than it is.
I would give the album a 7 out of 10.
Best Songs
"Bus Stop":
"4 Me":
"Honeymoon":
