NBA star Damian Lillard, who raps under the name Dame D.O.L.L.A., has shown hip-hop fans that he should be taken seriously behind the mic as well as on the court. Whether he's rhyming on Sway or freestyling on late night TV, Lillard has proven over the past few years that he's one of the best athelete rappers out there.
Several days ago, Lillard announced he was about to release a song with Lil Wayne.
Lillard had been building anticipation for the song throughout the week, teasing the drop on his Twitter feed several different times. Part of his upcoming second album, Confirmed, Lillard said fans could expect to hear "Run It Up" for the first time during an appearance on Sway in the Morning early Thursday.
Headed to #SwayInTheMorning. I'm on at 10 eastern on @Shade45. 1st place you can hear my new single "Run It Up" with @LilTunechi. #DameDOLLA
"Run It Up" helps cement the partnership the two men forged when they recorded "Loyal to the Soil" for Lillard's last album, and hopefully it doesn't meet the same fate as that song. Wayne's feature had to be completely removed from Lillard's debut album The Letter O due to a dispute with Cash Money. It's unclear what derailed that appearance, but in any case, Wayne and Lillard continue to work together despite the label politics.
Early reviews of the track were positive, and rap fans appear to be taking Lillard more seriously as an artist the more time passes.
This @Dame_Lillard song is pretty tight 👌🏿 pic.twitter.com/Dji7jVoRux
@Dame_Lillard Run it up 🔥🔥🔥 "all this game I'm given is prolly gonna be a caption"
"when the lights & cameras off, i'm still gon be bout dat action" - @Dame_Lillard
You can listen to "Run It Up" above, and stay tuned for more info on Lillard's upcoming album Confirmed.
