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DON TOLIVER
as it’s been told before, don toliver, whose second album
drops this summer, began creating music at age 17 with no prior knowledge or guidance on what to do. Now at 26, Toli- ver’s single from the upcoming debut, “What You Need”, is bouncing around and his name holds weight—he’s someone to know and someone whom everyone wants to work with (recently including the likes of Rico Nasty, Gucci Mane, Big Sean, Nas, the list goes on). “It took time,” he recalls. “It wasn’t an overnight thing at all. I had to do a lot, but it feels good to get here.”
Don keeps his cool while on set as he gets his hair retwisted, casually smoking and snacking a bit. The crew have created an organic energy on set, where the rotation of setups and looks feels like something they do all the time. Don has just completed his first look, and remarks on what he feels he’s mindfully kept consistent to date. “I really just do the same thing I’ve been doing,” he remarks, “which is just record, stay creative, stay in a creative mind space, and, you know, stay positive within each situation as much as I possibly can.”
Like Sheck, consistency has been a major key to Don’s rise and the biggest lesson learned in the business. “You want to be the same person every time,” he declares. “You don’t want to confuse two people, because it leaves space for questions. I like people to know straight up front: it’s hard, this is serious. It’s something that you can’t contain.”
He shares that Cactus Jack vibes and internal loyalty keep the bar high. “We’re just a group of friends who just take it to another level,” he smiles of the dynamic. “And just me evolving as a person kind of just keeps that real deal youth within me.”
For all three, real is what you get. Don echoes Sheck when he describes pouring himself into music, creating safe spaces and opportunities to express vulnerability. “I’m al- ways moving forward,” Don shares. “I’ve always been some- one that moves forward within my life, but that was step after step after step, I always find a way to move forward. That’s one thing I know about myself.” Don then affirms, not surprisingly, that the influence compelling those for- ward steps was, in fact, music, “It didn’t steer me wrong at the end of the day.”
Noting the impact of the pandemic, Don believes in music outside of himself—that universal language—that way to revive the energetic and connective forces around us. “I just want to bring some real balance to what’s going on,” he demonstrates. “I just feel like the world really needs what’s to come next. So I’m really focused on it.” Don concludes, speaking to the language of his art, his legacy, his being overall. “At the end of the day, when I’m gone, I want people to really use my music as a blueprint for them to figure it out. That’s all I really want. Like, when I’m here, when I’m gone, and everything’s all said and done, that’s all I want.”
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