Damian Lillard seems to be quite proud and confident about his contributions to the music industry off-late. Just 24 hours back, Dame tried undermining Shaquille O’Neal’s rapping skills by hailing himself as the best rap athlete in the BACKONFIGG podcast. Right after this, Dame released the music video for his new track ‘Paid in Full’, featuring Tobe Nwigwe.
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Since 2015, Dame has been able to re-launch a second career for himself with his music endeavors. His discography currently includes the albums The Letter O, Confirmed, Big D.O.L.L.A., and ‘Different On Levels The Lord Allowed’.
Lillard is a fully independent artist, having his very own record label called Front Page Music. All of these accredited credentials definitely explain why Lillard proclaimed himself to be the best rapping athlete.
Damian Lillard proclaimed himself to be the best rapper-athlete before dropping a new music video
It was Shaquille O’Neal who first started the endeavor of basketball stars trying their hands in the rap and music scene. Shaq was able to garner a $10,000,000 deal with Jive Records for 3 albums, which made him one of the firsts from the NBA to do so.
However, Damian Lillard also isn’t falling short of such achievements. Though he respects Shaq for being a platinum artist, he still considers himself to be the best rapper-athlete in the scene. Dame, however, has no regrets if Shaq might have been hurt by his claims.
“At this stage, where I’m as an artist. I just put my fifth album out… I’m a max player in the NBA, that’s one thing. But, as an artist. That doesn’t have anything to do with me as an artist. I’m producing a lot of music. I don’t think anybody else is taking as serious as far as a real career. I respect Shaq, he went platinum. I respect what Shaq did as an artist, I have nothing against him… But if you listen to the rhymes, when you listen to the song, I just feel like nobody who’s been an athlete has been better than me at making music/rapping. At that time, Shaquille O’Neal got a little mad… I didn’t take it too personal. But, I feel the same way now.”
Just 24 hours after making these claims, Lillard went on to drop the music video of his newest track, Paid in Full. The video features Texas artist Toby Nwigwe and draws inspiration from the cult classic movie, Paid in Full.
However, all of these doesn’t mean that Shaq has backed down after retiring from professional basketball. The big man has now established himself as DJ Diesel, touring along with his stepson, Myles O’Neal, to perform in global concerts. Furthermore, recent tracks like ‘King Talk,’ ‘Bodies Freestyle,’ and ‘3 Lokos’ prove that Diesel has not yet run out of his rapping skills.
Shaq and Dame once released diss tracks aiming shots at each other in 2019
The charm of rap music and the industry is incomplete without artists releasing diss tracks and aiming shots at each other. It’s quite rare for NBA players to diss another player through tracks. But being the music industry stalwarts in the NBA, both Dame and Shaq had a much-publicized rap beef.
Under his rap pseudonym Dame D.O.L.L.A, Lillard released his track ‘Reign Reign Go Away’ on Soundcloud, aiming shots at the Diesel. In response, Shaq released his very own ‘Dame Diss,’ which got fans comparing the tracks of the two ballers turned artists.
Guess the fans are in split opinion with regards to who is the better rapper. Nevertheless, Dame and Shaq’s tracks never fail to make heads bop and entertain the audience, just like their plays on the NBA hardwood.
