When Damian Lillard finishes his daily duties for the Portland Trail Blazers, he spends most of his spare time in the NBA bubble working on his other passion: music.
The All-Star point guard has transformed part of his suite at Walt Disney World Resorts into a mini recording studio. The league has built a social bubble to resume the NBA season and protect the 22 participating teams from COVID-19 while in the resort, which features several activities such as hiking trails, a bowling alley and a lake for fishing or boating. His team will push for a playoff spot at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex.
But under his rap rap Dame DOLLA, Lillard expects to turn his attention to laying tracks when he’s not busy with basketball. He is working to make his rap person known as his professional basketball identity, such as Emmy-winning actor Donald Glover, who has won several Grammys under his alter ego, Childish Gambino.
“This is the point I want to reach,” he said. “I admire him for how he has established himself in two different lanes. People respect him in every lane. This is my goal.”
Lillard’s room is equipped with a microphone resting on a stand, headphones, laptops with recording software and audio interface to control everything. He said that the thick carpet in his room should help sound quality.
He said the installation is “simple”, but it’s good enough for him to create music in a room where he can isolate himself.
“I have seen people saying there would be complaints about him recording music, but I don’t have speakers. Everything is in the headphone speakers,” he said. “I’m playing aloud, but I’m not screaming at the top of my lungs. Nobody will hear me beat.”
Lillard has earned respect in the hip-hop world as a socially conscious lyricist like Dame DOLLA, which stands for Different On Levels the Lord allows. He has recorded songs with some of the biggest names in the music industry including Lil Wayne, 2 Chainz and Jamie Foxx. He also performed with Wayne during the NBA All-Star weekend earlier this year.
Last month, Lillard released “Goat Spirit” with Raphael Saadiq and the powerful “Blacklist”, a song about police brutality against unarmed blacks. It is a song he felt compelled to release after George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis police custody on May 25.
Once the NBA season has started again, Lillard will have the words “How many more?” sewn on his shirt. He said he does not consider himself an activist, but wants to express his feelings about the good and negative things that affect his community.
This is what led Lillard to release her new song and music video “Home Team” on Friday. The song pays tribute to his family and close friends who helped financially start their entrepreneurial journey.
“They do all these things and those are the things I’m investing in to make my people deeper and stronger,” said Lillard of his friends who have become a businessman, chef, handyman and even a farmer. “It’s not an entourage of people going out with me because I’m an NBA player. It’s my strong circle.”
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