Damian Lillard started rapping as Dame D.O.L.L.A. long before becoming a Portland Trailblazer, and has continued to seriously pursue music even as an NBA All-Star. His most recent album, Big D.O.L.L.A., includes the Lil Wayne-assisted opening track, “Sorry.” In a recent interview with The Undefeated, Wayne explained why Dame is skilled enough to be a successful rapper if he wanted to give up basketball.
The New Orleans MC pointed out that Dame exceeds expectations by stepping outside of being an athlete in his rhymes. Instead, the Oakland native paints a full picture of his life:
When you listen to a person like Dame, or any NBA celebrity, NFL, that say they rap, first thing I thought about just like first thing everybody else thought about was, ‘What is this song gonna be about? The Game?’ About basketball? Or is it gonna be about your everyday life, which I imagine is beautiful and we all imagine that? So, what it’s about to be, about how he came up. And it’s about what’s real around him.
Accordingly, Dame described Big D.O.L.L.A. as a more accurate reflection of his life compared to his previous two albums during a recent episode of Genius' series For The Record.
“The first, it was like more storytelling, just like an introduction to me outside of what people see on TV or what they know me as an athlete. And then the second one was just, going to so many different directions, like people just in my ear, you need a club record, you need a record for this,” he said. “This one was more of me just like doing what I wanted to do. Like, okay, I’m still the same person. I still do a lot of the same stuff. The same friends and family is around me but, this is my life now.”
Elsewhere in The Undefeated interview, Wayne added that Dame’s work ethic would also play a key factor in further improving his lyrics and flow. “Dame is with anything, gonna keep working at it, especially doing things like this now,” Wayne said. “Definitely, gonna keep working at it and the only thing you can get is better. He started and the way he’s at now is nice.”
On top of that, Wayne believes Dame has the support needed to help him make a successful transition. “Dame has a lot of friends off the court with other teams, just because of who he is, and how he is,” the Young Money boss said. “That’s the same thing in music. So, if he was to switch over, he’d have a lot of help. And we all make sure that he won’t put himself out there the wrong way.”
In 2019, Dame also proved he was more than capable of holding his own in rap beefs. After besting Sacramento Kings forward Marvin Bagley III in a battle, he took on Hall of Fame center and veteran rapper Shaquille O'Neal this fall.
Read the full Lil Wayne Undefeated interview here, and catch up on all the lyrics to Dame D.O.L.L.A.’s Big D.O.L.L.A. on Genius now.
