Music

Don Toliver on Drake Collabs: 'Everything I Could Possibly Ever Want'

Ava Thompson
Music Editor · 2 hours ago

Don Toliver opened up about teaming with Drake on 'Solar Eclipse' and 'Cold Shoulder,' calling the experience a career-defining dream come true.

Don Toliver on Drake Collabs: 'Everything I Could Possibly Ever Want'

Don Toliver's 2024 has been nothing short of a rocket ride — No. 1 album, sold-out arenas, and now two Drake collaborations etched into his legacy. The Houston rapper sat down for a Grammy Museum conversation in Los Angeles and made one thing abundantly clear: linking with Drizzy hit differently.

A Year That Keeps Delivering

Kick the clock back to January and Toliver was already setting the pace with OCTANE, a debut chart-topper on the Billboard 200 that announced him as one of R&B and rap's most compelling forces. He followed that up with the Octane World Tour, filling arenas across North America with his signature atmospheric sound. All 18 tracks from OCTANE touched the Hot 100, and a collab with Yeat called "Griddle" kept his chart momentum rolling. The 31-year-old has been playing offense all year, and the Drake link-up feels like the closing argument of an already airtight case.

How 'Solar Eclipse' and 'Cold Shoulder' Came Together

The two records — "Solar Eclipse" and "Cold Shoulder" — first surfaced during Drake's FOMO livestream in September before officially landing on the OVO rapper's HABIBTI (FOMO) deluxe project on October 2nd, according to Billboard. "Solar Eclipse" carries a particularly striking edge: it interpolates Ella Langley's Billboard Hot 100 record-breaker "Choosin' Texas," threading a country-adjacent DNA through Toliver's silky Texas roots. The pairing is cinematic and deliberate, the kind of creative swing that only works when both artists are operating at the top of their craft.

Growing Up on Drizzy

What makes Toliver's enthusiasm resonate so genuinely is the context behind it. Speaking at the Grammy Museum, he traced his love for Drake all the way back to Comeback Season and So Far Gone — formative records that shaped what melody and vulnerability could sound like over a rap beat. "I come from that," he explained, describing "Solar Eclipse" as the precise type of collaboration he had always envisioned with Drake. Everything fell into place organically, and Toliver wasn't shy about the emotional weight of that. It's the kind of full-circle moment that doesn't need embellishment.

For a rapper who idolized Drake's early mixtape era, getting the call to appear on a deluxe project is a different kind of validation — one measured not in streams alone but in personal history. Drake has a track record of showing up for artists he respects, as fans who caught his surprise appearance at a streamer event or his freestyle at SGA's birthday bash already know well.

Toronto Moment and the FOMO Connection

The Drake-Toliver chemistry wasn't just built in the studio. Back in August, Drake made a surprise appearance at Toliver's Toronto stop on the Octane World Tour, debuting live cuts from his ICEMAN project in front of a crowd that had already come unglued for the headliner. That moment of mutual respect on stage clearly carried creative energy right back into the booth, producing the FOMO collaborations that fans are now spinning on repeat.

What's Next: NITROUS on the Horizon

Toliver has been careful not to let momentum stall. He's been steadily teasing his OCTANE follow-up, NITROUS, a project still in the works but already generating serious anticipation. If the quality of "Solar Eclipse" and "Cold Shoulder" is any signal of where his creative headspace is right now, NITROUS could land with even more force than its predecessor. With two Drake-stamped records potentially boosting his Hot 100 tally and a fanbase hungry for the next chapter, Don Toliver isn't just having a year — he's building a career arc that's only gaining altitude.

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DrakeProfileDrakeCanadian rapper, singer, and songwriter

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