By: Maribelle Gordon
On February 28th, just four days after the recent release of his third studio album, “Love Sick”, Don Toliver hit the stage at Irving Plaza in Manhattan to begin a series of surprise concerts to celebrate the project. He announced the show just a day before it was scheduled and it sold out in hours.
As an avid fan who has been listening to the Houston-native rapper since his mainstream debut on “Astroworld”, I grabbed the tickets the second I saw his Instagram post announcing the show. My friend and I made the trek down to Union Square, and despite having to wait outside the venue for over an hour in the cold weather, I can confidently say that, for only $35, the experience was more than worth it.
It was my first rap concert in a while, and I had to re-familiarize myself with the excited and physical nature of a pit crowd at a rap show. The concert opened with a DJ, a choice that can make or break the vibe of the crowd to start a show. The DJ played the perfect mix of well-known hip-hop and trap music that immediately got the mosh pits forming. Unfortunately, we had to wait another hour or so before Don Toliver came on stage, but he came out swinging with some of his fan-favorite songs, like “Cardigan” and “After Party” which kept the crowd’s energy high.
He then played some material off of his new project, such as his single “Do It Right” and one of the album’s most immediate hits “Private Landing”. I was surprised by how much variety in his discography he was covering, given that this show was in celebration of the release of this new album. He left out quite a few songs from “Love Sick” and played music from his first studio album as well as some features he has done. He also played some songs off of Metro Boomin’s recent album “HEROES & VILLAINS” as he has several popular features on the project. Despite not getting to hear several of his new songs that I was hoping he’d perform, he still did an incredible job making a setlist that kept the show engaging. His energy was contagious, and the crowd was definitely feeding off of his excitement to perform live.
Just when I thought the show couldn’t get any more hype, Don Toliver brought out a special guest that absolutely electrified the small venue. Being a long-time rap fan and from the same hometown as both of these artists, seeing a joint set of Don Toliver and Travis Scott in such an intimate venue was a possibility that I wouldn’t even let myself speculate on. Although Travis Scott owns the record label to which Don Toliver is signed, and the two artists are good friends with several collaborations, it was very unexpected seeing an artist as big as Scott come out at such a small show in a city where he doesn’t have many connections to.
Scott stayed on for the rest of the show, performing collaborations with Toliver like the track “Embarrassed” off of “Love Sick”, as well as some of his other famous songs like “Antidote”. The joint set lasted longer than special guest performances typically do, keeping the crowd extremely energetic and entertained.
The set as a whole was somewhat short, and Toliver didn’t perform the whole album, leaving out a couple of my favorite songs, but it was hard to feel disappointed after such a flashy and all-out performance featuring one of the biggest names in rap. By the end of the show, I felt my love for rap music being reignited after feeling like the rap industry had become a bit stagnant in the past few years.
The new album, as well as Don Toliver’s creativity and passion for performing, gives me hope for the future of the rap industry. While maintaining a consistent sound with his discography, Toliver has introduced some unique themes into his music that translated into an incredible release. The show reminded me of the unmatched culture within rap music and its fans, and I left the concert appreciating the unique energy that doesn’t really exist in the same way at other types of concerts or performances.
