Can Damian Lillard make the jump from NBA superstar to rap sensation?
Going under the name of Dame D.O.L.L.A., the 26-year-old MC released his debut album, The Letter O, today (October 21). The Portland Trail Blazers point guard enlists Lil Wayne, Juvenile, Raphael Saadiq, Marsha Ambrosius and Jamie Foxx for the 12-track project.
Lillard went on Twitter to share further details about his first LP, including revealing that The Letter O is named after the places that made him. He grew up in Oakland, California, went to college at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah and was drafted to play professional basketball by the Portland Trail Blazers, where he has spent four years living in Oregon. He also says that The Letter O contains all clean lyrics.
Many NBA players have tried their hand at rap. Shaquille O’Neal went platinum with his 1994 Shaq Diesel LP. Allen Iverson had a great potential in his musical career before he scrapped his debut album in 2001 at the warning of then-commissioner David Stern who emphasized a family friendly image for the league.
Stream Dame D.O.L.L.A.’s The Letter O album above and check out the cover art and tracklist below.
- Bill Walton
- Wasatch Front
- Growth Spurt f. Dupre
- Misguided
- Thank You f. Marsha Ambrosius, Brookfield Duece & Danny from Sobrante
- Plans f. Jamie Foxx
- Legacy f. Juvenile & Danny from Sobrante
- Loyal to the Soil f. Lil Wayne
- Roll Call f. Brookfield Duece
- Pillow Talk f. Manny Lotus
- Baggage f. Adrian Marcel
- Hero f. Raphael Saadiq [Bonus Track]
And the saddest part that it’s probably better than the vast majority of mainstream albums nowadays (I haven’t listened the LP yet, but I’d put money on this in advance), while it’s admittedly a hobby for Lillard. His feature selection also looks great, it’d have been interesting to include Shaq or Iverson as well. Speaking of the latter, he really should leak his album. Is he afraid of losing his Reebok deal or what?
Better than some “real” rappers albums
J Cole if he went pro
didnt ron artest and tony parker release albums too? and now you got iman shumpert doing music…kinda makes me believe that music is so secondary anymore… kinda why ppl dont care as much anymore