(upbeat music)
- [Narrator] Let's talk about a Houston born rapper
making waves in music.
This master of Trap & B has set TikTok on fire,
got his start with Travis Scott,
and has collaborated with hip hop heavyweights,
including Wiz Khalifa, Nas,
and even opened for The Weeknd.
Ladies and gentlemen, it's Don Toliver.
(upbeat music)
Caleb Zackery Toliver was born in 1994
in Houston, Texas, in the community of Alief,
which produced stars like Lizzo, Tobe Nwigwe,
and Kelly Rowland.
Toliver's musical ear came from his parents,
who would play Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Sade,
and Maxwell throughout his upbringing.
But when his father played Swishahouse heavy hitters,
Mike Jones and Paul Wall,
young Caleb developed his desire to rap.
When he heard "Locals Only" by Dom Kennedy,
Caleb then turned himself into Don Toliver.
In his junior year of high school,
he released his first song, "B I'm in the Building,"
which he recorded on his video game system.
More recordings on his gaming system followed,
including "Pep Rally," which gained him attention
with his classmates.
After graduation, Don and a friend moved in together,
focusing on making music.
During this time, Toliver emulated his hometown hero,
Travis Scott, and focused on melodies that set him apart
from other rappers.
In the winter of 2017, Don released "I Gotta"
and "Diva" on SoundCloud,
quickly hitting over 100,000 streams
and signed a deal with Atlantic Records in 2018.
In the same year, Don Toliver released his debut mix tape,
"Donny Womack."
The project brought Toliver's melodic high energy sound
inspired by R&B superstars, like Bobby Womack and Sade,
to a wider audience.
"Donny Womack" received a nod from Travis Scott
and earned him an invitation to Hawaii
to work on Scott's third studio album, "Astroworld."
Days later, Don Toliver signed to Scott's label,
Cactus Jack.
After Toliver's breakthrough on "Astroworld,"
he released several singles under Cactus Jack
throughout 2019, like, "Best You Had," "Can't Feel My Legs,"
and "Back Up" featuring Wiz Khalifa.
In December, Toliver collaborated
with his Cactus Jack label mates,
becoming a musical collective known as JACKBOYS.
They released a compilation album, "JACKBOYS,"
with features from Quavo and Offset of Migos.
At the beginning of 2020, Don was featured
on Eminem's 11th studio album, "Music to Be Murdered By,"
and a month later, he opened for The Weeknd's
"After Hours" tour.
In March of 2020, Toliver announced his debut studio album,
"Heaven or Hell."
This title is a nod to his Gemini duality
and told The Face,
"Heaven or hell is a different way
to explain the vibe of the music.
Heaven is the good, the regular, the good vibes.
Hell is just a kind of nightlife, street club,
or a whole other vibe, a different personality
than what you would have in an office or work environment."
Throughout 2020, Toliver kept pushing, releasing "Clap"
for the soundtrack on "F9"
and then was featured on "Internet Money"
and Gunna's track "Lemonade."
This song earned Toliver his highest charting song
on the Billboard Hot 100, peeking at number six.
Additional collabs came, including appearing beside Big Sean
on Nas's song "Replace Me,"
then Gucci Mane on Rico Nasty's "Don't Like Me."
Don Toliver kept his momentum up in 2021
by releasing a collaboration with Skrillex
and Justin Bieber called, "Don't Go."
Later in 2021, his second studio album,
"Life of a Don" was released with tracks by Mike Dean,
Metro Boomin, and Hit-Boy,
and had features from Travis Scott, Kali Uchis,
Baby Keem, and SoFaygo.
Debuting at number two on the Billboard 200 chart,
his album sold almost 20,000 copies in pure album sales
in the first week,
and 64.13 million streams.
Toliver's talent is matched by his creativity.
"I want people to imagine everything in my music.
I want them to take it in so they can mentally
and visually feel it.
My sound is so different.
I'm bringing a new culture into the music game."
If his successes are any indication,
we can expect more musical wins from Don Toliver,
and no doubt, we're here for it.
(upbeat music)