“Don Toliver continues to refine the sound that's made him one of the most recognizable artists to emerge from Houston in the past decade on his fifth studio effort OCTANE. Across a hefty 18 tracks, he fully leans into his psychedelic trap instincts, delivering an interesting record with some hidden gems. At this length, it's hard to argue that every song is essential. While there aren't many outr”
“The Texas rapper manages to buoy even the most underwhelming stretches of his fifth album with sparks of personality and timely features.”
“The Texas rapper manages to buoy even the most underwhelming stretches of his fifth album with sparks of personality and timely features.”
“**Favorite tracks:** songs on the entire project, with their super flavorless, nocturnal, vibey beats that sound like the sort of shit you get after a few YouTube beat searches. Toliver [Watch the review](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n164BBR1NRM)”
“**💭 Thoughts:** Don Toliver’s 2026 studio album OCTANE is the Texan rapper/singer’s most hazy, atmospheric, and psychedelic record yet—a sound that I find to work exceptionally well with his melodic and airy vocal style. While the rapper doesn’t offer up any depth when it comes to lyricism, he makes up for it with the highly consistent instrumentals and vocals. It’s more of an album you’d listen to for the vibes rather than a life-changing experience. **🎶 Tracklist Review** 1.) E85 🟢 2.) Body 🟢 3.) Rendezvous 🔵 4.) Secondhand 🟢 5.) Tiramisu 🔵 6.) ATM 🟢 7.) Long Way to Calabasas 🟢 8.) Rosary 🟢 9.) All The Signs 🟡 10.) Call Back 🔵 11.) Tuition 🔵🥈 12.) K9 🔵 13.) Excavator 🔵🥉 14.) Gemstone 🔵 15.) OPPOSITE 🔵🥇 16.) TMU 🔵 17.) Pleasure’s Mine 🔵 18.) Sweet Home 🟡 ──────────────────── **🤔 Track Rating Scale** 🔵 Loved — Thoroughly enjoyed it and will revisit often. 🟢 Liked — Enjoyed it, but it’s not one I’d revisit often. 🟡 Mixed — Enjoyed it somewhat, but some aspects held it back for me; most likely won’t revisit. 🟠 Disliked — Didn’t enjoy it very much; won’t be revisiting. 🔴 Hated — Didn’t enjoy any part of it; no desire to revisit ever again. ⚪️ Interlude, etc. — Not rated as an actual song. ──────────────────── **🏅 Ranking Scale** 10 — Perfect 9 — Exceptional 8 — Great 7 — Good 6 — Decent 5 — Average 4 — Below Average 3 — Poor 2 — Bad 1 — Awful 0 — Unlistenable”
“Really solid album. Love the production all the way through. The start and the ending is phenomenal it was just such a beautiful way to start and end. Love tracks like body, opposite, TMU, and sweet home. However I feel disappointed by call back I was really hyped for this song but felt it was missing something or could of been longer. Wasn’t a big fan of the yeat feature and that song in general. Also wasn’t a fan of tuition felt like a bit of a filler. The middle is definitely the weakest part. But overall a very enjoyable experience definitely an album to bump a lot and gets better with each listen just the middle feels a tad weak.”
“Reviewing 2026 projects: RE-REVIEW Project: #006 of 2026 projects I reviewed Title: OCTANE Artist: Don Toliver The album itself feels very inconsistent and very empty. However, after the first 3 tracks and disregarding a couple others the sound on the album is kind of defined a bit better: the album's tracks like Seconhand, All The Signs, Long Way To Calabasis, K9 define the sound of the album, giving it a chill, blocky, atmospheric identity, almost exactly like the cover. FAVOURITES: Secondhand, All The Signs, K9 LEAST FAVOURITES: Rendezvous, Excavator, OPPOSITE”
“This Don Toliver album, disappointingly, was very run of the mill. Exactly what I expect of a Don Toliver album at this point. Some songs that go into different more interesting sounds “E85” , “Body”, and others that stick to that generic melodic trap formula. Don Toliver is a master of disguising saying a whole lot of nothing over and extremely catchy beat and melody. That’s not to say there’s nothing to enjoy here the production is refined and sleek but there are some poor vocal performances here and there. Most of the features were fairly lacklustre as well.”
“Definitely either his best or top 3 best Albums (hard stone phsyco is so good & and so is his debut) I love the songs dedicated to Kali Uchis, the beats are so good and all is a bop especially at night. Call back and body are my favorites.”
“Don Toliver has put out a ton of good music over the past couple years and this album didn’t bless us with much. With the exception of E85, Body, and ATM, no other music was particularly hard hitting.”
“Forgot to give a reason most of the songs r a vibe but it seems pretty TikTok coded like short and sweet and repetitive (not always a bad thing) and sometimes SOMETIMES don’s voice can get annoying”
“Album has gotten worse with the more listening I do definitely some really high production points but the lyrics slack”
