When Don Toliver set out to make his new album \u201cOctane,\u201d the rapper was first fixated on Los Angeles\u2019 San Gabriel Mountains. Though it wasn\u2019t the sparsely green terrain or occasionally snowcapped mountains that caught his eye, it was instead the historic collection of white domes and solar towers that make up the Mount Wilson Observatory. Something about the astronomical site \u201cfully ignited\u201d the Houston-born singer\u2019s need to create.<\/p>\n
\u201cAstronomers would sit at that telescope for hours and hours waiting for a planet to be visible. It\u2019s the same concept as being in the studio,\u201d said the musician born Caleb Toliver. \u201cMaking music can be sitting there, waiting for a sign or a feeling to be visible for me to understand what I\u2019m doing and connect to it.\u201d<\/p>\n
In line with his celestial fascination, the 31-year-old singer describes the creative process of his fifth studio album as being caught in a \u201cblack hole.\u201d But instead of getting devoured by the abyss, he says over Zoom, he honed in on making something \u201cunknown.\u201d To Toliver, uncovering the \u201cunknown\u201d on \u201cOctane\u201d was all about being consumed by his art and allowing his gut to guide him accordingly. He even jokes about creating a sound so fresh that AI wouldn\u2019t be able to replicate it. <\/p>\n
A year and a half ago, the Texan entertainer released his fourth album, \u201cHardstone Psycho,\u201d his grungey take on biker culture. So for \u201cOctane,\u201d he has once again released an album driven by wheels \u2014 except this time around, he\u2019s traded two wheels for four. As someone who\u2019s been entranced by cars ever since high school, Toliver uses his car obsession as a vehicle for his own sonic discovery. He says, through cracking phone reception, connecting his sound and his vehicle is a relationship he\u2019s been waiting to master.<\/p>\n
\u201cI started believing in myself more. Sometimes you get a lot of people in the room with a bunch of opinions, ideas and questions. But, sometimes the answer is really within you when you create the art,\u201d said Toliver of making his new album, \u201cOctane.\u201d<\/p>\n
(Christina House \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n
The call took place a few days after he (and his car handler) trucked his \u201cOctane\u201d-themed racing Audi to the very top of the Los Angeles Times\u2019 parking garage for a photo shoot. On that quintessentially sunny January day, Toliver wore an equally blinding, all-white outfit in contrast to the bright yellows of the racer. He carried a quiet and observant demeanor on set, carefully keeping an eye out for his vehicle.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s something about when I play the very first song on the album, and I\u2019m driving it \u2014 it literally puts me in like a video game,\u201d said Toliver. \u201cIt literally takes me into this alternate universe. There are certain times when I\u2019m in certain vehicles, and I just want to play my s\u2014. I start to feel like Tom Cruise.\u201d<\/p>\n
He adds that his favorite driving route, when listening to the album, is when he loops from the 118 to the 5, all the way down to the 101. He calls it a \u201croutine\u201d at this point. <\/p>\n
The album starts out on the highway with the track \u201cE85,\u201d where he faces off with a hearty guitar and a disguised sample of indie singer Malcolm Todd\u2019s \u201cChest Pain (I Love),\u201d while reminiscing about his \u201csignificant lover.\u201d Though the record isn\u2019t solely focused on his car devotion, in nearly every track, there\u2019s either a reference to driving or the beat simply embodies the energy of speedily switching lanes. <\/p>\n
On the fast-tempo, bass-heavy track \u201cGemstone,\u201d he references the \u201cFast and Furious\u201d series. On \u201cATM,\u201d he shouts out a Range Rover bus and on \u201cExcavator,\u201d he sings, \u201cYeah, I\u2019m drunk but I\u2019m ain\u2019t driving\/ And yes I know my destination,\u201d over a jingly beat. On \u201cOctane,\u201d each unpredictable beat switch and layered sample can feel like a driver\u2019s exhale after successfully turning a tight corner.<\/p>\n
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