HARDSTONE PSYCHO is the fourth album from Houston rapper/singer Don Toliver, and it was released on June 14th, 2024. Toliver is a frequent collaborator of Travis Scott’s and is signed to Travis’ record label, Cactus Jack. I’ve heard a few of his songs, like one of the singles off of this album, “Bandit,” as well as the Donda track, “Moon.” He’s a solid singer and while his rapping isn’t something that’ll blow you away, musically its a dynamic and engaging combination of R&B and hip hop.
We open up the album with the track, “KRYPTONITE,” which has a cool instrumental featuring electric guitars and trap drums. I like the kryptonite analogy, as he’s describing a girl he likes as his weakness. I also really like the beat switch that takes place in Part 2, with those hard hitting bells and the heavy synth bass. “TORE UP,” feels like Don’s own take on Travis Scott’s “FE!N,” and I really love the guitar riff sampled from the band She Died Real Pretty. It’s a song about the hedonistic lifestyle of drugs and sex, and it’s an incredibly strong track. I really enjoy the instrumentation of this track, making it one of my favorites. BBYKOBE did a phenomenal job on the production. Following that, we have the track, “BROTHER STONE,” featuring Kodak Black. The SkipOnDaBeat produced instrumental with that smooth piano loop, I feel is wasted with Kodak Black as a featured artist. Don’s part isn’t the problem, but Kodak Black’s voice is absolutely grating on the ears. I’ve never liked his music and I still haven’t heard him contribute a solid guest verse. One of my least favorite tracks on the album.
“ATTITUDE,” featuring Charlie Wilson and Cash Cobain, is the third single off the album. It’s centered off of a sample of “Beautiful,” by Snoop Dogg featuring Pharrell Williams and Charlie Wilson. I was happy to hear Charlie’s contribution to the track, and Toliver’s verse as well. Cash Cobain is a solid addition to the track as well. The sample makes the track incredibly catchy, and it’s overall a very well rounded track. Following that, we have my favorite track on the entire record, “BANDIT” as I’ve heard it way before this album was released, I love the pitched up Tame Impala sample and the chorus is infectious. It’s well produced, with that pitched-up sample, heavy use of guitar in the chorus, and bass and drums that sound like they were done by Mike Dean. In fact, I’m surprised that Mike Dean didn’t handle any of the production on this album, as it sounds very similar to him. “GLOCK,” is another track with a great sample, this time sampling Whitney Houston’s track, “Exhale (Shoop Shoop).” I like the drill style of the track, as it changes up the sound from trap to more of a Pop Smoke type of sound. PoWR Trav and Tommy Parker chose a great sample and the drill drums with the pitched up vocal sample make it a very memorable listen.
“ICE AGE,” featuring Travis Scott, has a very cool guitar instrumental with heavy trap snares. And I think Travis fits on the track perfectly, as this track almost sounds like something off of his 2018 album, Astroworld. The beat switch in a different key, with the reversed guitar instrumentation helps distinguish Don Toliver’s style from Travis’ style. “4X4,” is a two part track with heavy bass and 808s. The production on the track which also adds a Japanese string instrument at one point, makes it sound unique. I like how the beat’s tempo slows down in part 2, and the vocal filters that Don uses are cool as well. “PURPLE RAIN,” featuring Future and Metro Boomin, unfortunately, doesn’t sample Prince like I was hoping it to, but it’s an amazing track with an absolutely beautiful beat. And hearing Don and Future take turns singing on this track makes it one of the best melodic rap collaborations that I’ve heard so far this year. Metro Boomin, Zaytoven, and Honorable C.N.O.T.E did an excellent job producing this beat.
“NEW DROP,” switches between a trap and house drum beat, produced by Wheezy. Instrumentally it’s very varied with the high pitched synths, piano, and heavy usage of 808s. It’s not my favorite track on the album, but it’s solid nonetheless. “BACKSTREETS,” featuring Teezo Touchdown, has another great beat featuring 808s, acoustic guitars, and what sounds like harps. It’s a total summer anthem, and both Don and Teezo provide an enthusiastic party vibe to the track. I like the romantic lyrics of the track, one of my favorites being “Lifestyle full of sins, but you heaven-sent.” I do wish that Teezo contributed a bit more to the track besides the chorus, still it’s one of my favorites off the record. “DEEP IN THE WATER,” is another solid solo single from Don, I like the glossy electric pianos, video game sounding synths, and Don’s love-sick lyrics. It’s another one of my favorites, and I like the ethereal sound of the track as a whole. The themes of love and adjustments in a relationship are appreciated, and give the album more personal touches, because a lot of the tracks on this record are total party anthems. “INSIDE,” featuring Travis Scott, is a more downtempo track, and the lyrics are sung a lot slower than on other tracks, it’s very atmospheric, and it’s a solid enough track, although it could probably benefit from being like a minute shorter. “5 TO 10,” is another track I’m not a fan of, as instrumentally it sounds beautiful with the glossy synths, warm organ, and symphonic strings, but lyrically it just doesn’t stand out from the rest of the album. “LAST LAUGH,” features beautiful pianos and heavy snares on the production side, and while lyrically it’s not too complex, Don’s voice shines on the track. Finally, we close off the album with, “HARDSTONE NATIONAL ANTHEM,” I like the line, “turn those tears into wine,” and it has a positive vibe to it, both lyrically and instrumentally, but I feel like the album could have ended on a stronger note.
Overall, HARDSTONE PSYCHO is a solid but unspectacular album. Don Toliver is a solid singer and overall artist, and the features fit for the most part, but it feels like there are a lot of solo tracks that are just missing something. I’m not sure exactly what is missing, but there’s just something that feels kinda hollow about some of the tracks on the record. Tracks like, “BANDIT,” and “DEEP IN THE WATER,” show that Don can carry a track on his own, but other tracks like “5 TO 10,” don’t really stand out that much in the grand scheme of things. Kodak Black doesn’t fit as a feature at all on the album, and the features that do fit on the album, such as Travis Scott and Future, outshine Don at some points. I also feel like that there should’ve been more features on the album, as it would add more variety to the album. In my opinion, Don is a solid singles artist, and is a great artist to have as a feature on your album, but he relies heavily on production and the overall vibes of the tracks to mask a lack of diversity subject matter wise. There’s nothing wrong with a good sex song or party song, but there are artists that pull that off much better than Don does. Instrumentally, there were some truly fantastic sounding tracks, but I review albums based on how they sound as a whole, and lyrically, unfortunately, a lot of the tracks blur together. Not a bad album, I love the production, but there’s better melodic rap albums out there.
Overall Score: 6/10
Favorite Tracks: “KRYPTONITE,” “TORE UP,” “BANDIT,” “ICE AGE,” “PURPLE RAIN,” “DEEP IN THE WATER,”
Least Favorite Tracks: “BROTHER STONE,” “5 TO 10,”
Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FauDn2LkeQ4
Genres: Hip Hop/Trap