Sir Charles in Charge
Fansided

Making Basketball Great Again: Breaking down the wacky world of NBA music

By Chris Murch

PORTLAND, OR - OCTOBER 24: Damian Lillard #0 of the Portland Trail Blazers is introduced before the game against the New Orleans Pelicans at Moda Center on October 24, 2017 in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images)
PORTLAND, OR - OCTOBER 24: Damian Lillard #0 of the Portland Trail Blazers is introduced before the game against the New Orleans Pelicans at Moda Center on October 24, 2017 in Portland, Oregon. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images) /
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(Disclaimer: Lyrics may be NSFW)

The Good:

Damian Lillard (Rap name: Dame Dolla)

Highlight track: “Run it Up” Featuring Lil Wayne

What started out as him flexing his ability to put together mini-verses in his “Four-Bar Friday” series on Instagram, turned into a bona-fide career for Dame. So far he has dropped two full-length albums in The Letter O & Confirmed. These albums feature music heavyweights like Lil Wayne, 2 Chainz, Jamie Foxx, Juvenile, Rapahel Saadiq and more.

They also feature production from the likes of Scott Storch, Swiff D and S.K. Dame likes to keep it PG-13 (Not a Paul George pun) on the records, but there is no denying his flow and cadence. Repping the Bay Area, you get a feel for the Hyphy influence on tracks like “Run it Up,” with lines like,

"“And I don’t play that/I’m stuntin’ for the payback/i’m from where Golden State at/but Portland where I lay at.”"

His influence not only lies with the party-centric background of the Yay area however. On the track “Bigger Than Us,” a punch-right-to-the-heart track that talks about police violence in the Inner City, he tells it like it is with lines like,

"“I see the world from the lens of my own perspective/I see the anger driven by color and the recession/Sad to see the reality of our regression/Cops killing, drug selling in the state of depression”"

Dame is the best hooper rapping right now and I am definitely looking forward to another album dropping this offseason.

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