Shortly after that first contract was signed, Toliver made contact with someone in Travis Scott’s circle. He’d been a fan of Travis’s music for a while; the deal he would soon sign with Cactus Jack formalized a relationship that Toliver characterizes as vital to his personal and professional development. It was under Travis’s wing that Toliver was introduced to the public at large, on Astroworld’s “Can’t Say.” His first two albums, Heaven or Hell and Life of a Don, were released in 2020 and ‘21, respectively, each charting well and spawning modest hits (“After Party,” “What You Need”).
“Being around somebody like that will make you want to be the best person you can possibly be,” Toliver says of Travis. “He motivated me to be the best version of myself.” In fact, in their collaborations, Travis even seems to nudge his style toward his protege’s; on Life of a Don’s “Flocky Flocky,” Travis’s second verse incorporates a lilt and bounce that are Toliver trademarks. He’s influencing his influences.
Now Toliver is at the center of the scene, fluent in the language of the moment—the popular themes, flows, beats—while scrambling his delivery to sound as fresh and urgent as ever. As the biggest stars of the previous era have recognized, Toliver is reimagining what’s right in front of us, seeing things that nobody else could. And when he has the opportunity to share that vision, he knows what to do: attack, attack, attack.
PRODUCTION CREDITS:
Photographs by Charlotte Rutherford
Styled by Mobolaji Dawodu
Hair by Yazmin Adams and Keenan Howard
Skin by Courtney Housner
Tailoring by Tatyana Sargsyan
Production design by Daniel Lane at Nucalifornia
Paul Thompson
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