HardStone Psycho by Don Tolliver

I remember the first time I heard Don Toliver, which was on November 21st, 2021. I had delved into his third studio album, Life of a Don. I don’t recall how I came about listening to the album; it might have been recommended by Spotify or Instagram. But regardless, I listened to it from start to finish. Being exposed to this up-and-coming artist, I could tell even from the first song I knew he would be a sort of an acquired taste. But Don Toliver did an admirable job pairing his unique voice with simple yet effective beats, fully embracing the tone of his voice and finding his sound in each song. Fast forward to 2024, and his fourth studio album, Hardstone Psycho, is more of the same but with some rock infusion embedded in it.

Again, I haven’t been an avid listener of Don, but I had a small phase after the Life of a Don where I played a handful of songs off that album on my many Spotify playlists. But, like so many phases in life, he fell through the cracks. I kept tabs on him as any fan of music would. I kept glancing ever so often, but moving on with my life as there was much more music to enjoy. Now, how did I come across Hardstone Psycho and The Don again, you may ask? Well, it wasn’t a Spotify recommendation, as you would assume. In fact, a friend from work recommended it. I believe the conversation went along the lines that I asked him what songs he had on rotation. He mentions two songs from this project. Glock and 5x10. So I listened to both and, from there, decided to listen to the entirety of the album and do my due diligence. I have let this album digest in me and have let the bangers bang and the fluffy songs try and find their way into my playlists. I now believe I have had enough time to sit with it and to make an honest assessment of this project. So here it is.

I mentioned it earlier in the introduction. While it’s definitely a separate entity from his previous works and, more importantly, his previous album. I have found it hard to differentiate between his Life of a Don and this one. Now, some might say that that’s a good thing. Hardstone Psycho being a rock version of Life of a Don. But for me, I like to look for variety and, more importantly, growth for an artist. Now, I am not talking about the time when Drake tried his hand at house music in his album Honestly, Nevermind, and the only good song off that album was ironically the non-house song and more along the lines of his typical trap-styled Drake song, titled Jimmy Cooks featuring 21 Savage. No, that’s not what I was looking for when Listening to and digesting Hardstone Psycho. While a reminder and refresher were nice, the sound and vibe of Don Toliver quickly wore out for me as I desperately looked for something else within the album that I never found. I appreciate the rock elements that pervaded the entire album. I don’t think it was enough to lift this album and put it above the rest of his catalog. It's a touch but seems more of a throw in then a well thought out plan for the album. Alright, enough talk of its shortcomings. Let's talk about what this album did well, and let’s dive into some of the songs and what picture he is trying to paint for us.

This album wasn’t exactly an introspective piece of art; it carries with it a don’t care aggressive trap biker vibe, which is fitting to its name, dipped in a little rock. The first song, Kryptonite, speaks to this undertone of past or failed relationships—how the lover is his Kryptonite. It immediately shows off the style and vigor you would expect from the album title. You hear the rock elements that establish the vibe of this album. The in-your-face instrumentation is backed by a beat change with someone screaming. I liked this song as a tempo setter, setting us up for what we are to expect from the album, which is all you can ask for to start an album. Tore Up, the second song, brings those rock-infused elements and picks up where Kryptonite left off. Brother Stone sees a change in style. The feature from Kodak Black was perhaps the best one out of all the features, yes, even both Travis’s features and even the excellent Charlie Wilson on a drill beat of all things! (he was a close second). I wish Kodack had more work to do besides a small verse and the hook from which he absolutely had me doing the stank face. That’s another metric that I have and will continue to use appropriately. The number of stank faces definitely matches the likeability of the album. It's more conclusive to more hip-hop and R&B albums, but it still can be useful for all albums. Not all stankfaces are created equal, but I digress. Sorry, where were we? Ah, yes, the Don Toliver album; let’s continue. Moving along through the album, there was a little change of pace; I mentioned briefly the Charlie Wilson feature on the song Attitude, which was a drill type of song that carried into a softer drill in Glock. While I did have prior relations with Glock, and when I listened to it within the scope of the entire album, it didn’t change how I felt about the song. It has since become a part of my regular listening rotation. The pitched vocals with the melodically pleasing hook about Don asking his girl to hold his piece while he traverses the club are attractive to the ears. It's not overtly on your face like the earlier songs on the album. It’s smooth and concise. Although I will say it kind of deviates from the vibe of the album as it doesn’t really add to the energy of the album that was set by the earlier songs, it felt a little out of place. After this, I got sort of lackadaisical. While we did get typical Don with both Travis features on Ice Age and Inside(I preferred Ice Age a lot more than Inside), over time, the farther along the album got, I felt fatigued of sorts. Waiting for a change of pace to wake me up, but it never really came. The feature from Teezo Touchdown was nice, but he didn’t even have a verse on the song BackStreets, and I share some of the same sentiments I had with Kodak. Why don’t they have actual verses? Their contributions to the hook are exceptional; maybe add to it, Don? Anyways, the unofficial ending of the album Hardstone National Anthem was a good, but not great ending to the album. While there is no overarching theme or questions that need answering, it did its job. Anthem is a fitting title, as we hear a more vocally pleasing Don showcasing some of his singing chops. It fits well and is a decent bow for the album. Now, disclaimer: Spotify doesn’t show this song as the end. It does, but it doesn’t. This album is separated by discs, and the actual ending of the album is the end of disc 4. But there are four more songs on disc five. The album didn’t carry a deluxe title with it. So I was thoroughly disappointed when, after Hardstone National Anthem, I was greeted with four more songs. Add to it that it was more of the forgettable variety. It made me more upset that he was ending his album like this. But alas, I took a deep breath and looked it up. These four songs are indeed part of a deluxe of some sort, and Hardstone National Anthem was this album’s natural conclusion. Whew! That clarification changed a lot of how I felt then and now about this album. Thanks, Spotify!

We are at the end of the album and, therefore, the end of the review. Time to give out a grade. I will be grading it out of 10, but I believe in halves and points. So, in the case of Don Tolivers 4th studio album, Hardstone Psycho, you have been graded a 6.5 out of 10. Overall good not great. too many moments of forgetfulness paired with some great potential on some of the features, hoped for more. got more of the same.

Thank you for reading this far. If you have, I appreciate your time and attention. until next time! Godspeed.