While many NBA stars have tried to cross over into hip-hop before, something feels different about Damian Lillard’s efforts at the art. His latest jab at rapping, a just-dropped “Shook Ones” freestyle set over a famous Mobb Deep beat, gives us some indication as to why.
Dame D.O.L.L.A., as the Portland Trail Blazers’ All-Star point guard is known in these parts, begins his verse by placing himself squarely in the capitalist paradox he inhabits by being a blue-collar icon who’s also a multi-millionaire who appears in adidas commercials.
“Last of a dying breed and they taking me for granted,” he says, “I represent the ones working for nothing handed / The world is all backwards, how we lazy and demanding? / We ain’t working towards dreams, we just working towards mansions.”
Lillard goes on to contemplate the evil of money without a clear thesis, and waxes on the pride and churchgoing of his upbringing in Oakland, California. It isn’t exactly “All Falls Down,” but it’s definitely a lot more ambitious than what we usually hear from pro ballers, and Lillard has some genuine conviction as an emcee. Needless to say, his budding career as a musician remains worth following going forward.
