Turns to music
When this NBA player finishes his hoop duties, he works on his music.
When Damian Lillard finishes his daily hoop duties for the Portland Trailblazers, he will spend most of his downtime inside the NBA bubble working on his other passion: music.
The All-star point guard turned part of his suite into a mini recording studio at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex, where his team will make a push for a playoff berth. The league constructed a social bubble to resume the
NBA season and protect 22 teams from COVID-19 while at the resort, which features several activities such as walking trails, a bowling alley and a lake to fish or boat.
But under his rap persona Dame D.O.L.L.A., Lillard expects to turn his attention to laying down tracks when he is not occupied with basketball. He’s striving to make his rap persona just as known as his pro basketball identity, like the Emmy-winning actor Donald Glover who won multiple Grammys under his alter ego, Childish Gambino.
“That’s the point I want to get to,” he said. “I admire him with how he’s established himself into two different lanes. People respect him in each lane. That’s my goal.”
Lillard’s room is equipped with a microphone perched on a stand, headphones, laptop with recording software and audio interface to control everything. He said the thick carpet in his room should help the sound quality.
He said the setup is “simple,” but it’s good enough for him to create music in a room where he can isolate himself.
“I saw people saying that there would be complaints of him recording music, but I don’t have any speakers. Everything is in the headphone speakers,” he said. “I’m rapping out loud, but not screaming to the top of my lungs. Nobody is going to hear me rapping.”
Lillard has earned respect in the hip-hop world as a socially conscious lyricist as Dame D.O.L.L.A., which stands for Different On Levels the Lord Allows. He’s 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 NBA All-star weekend earlier this year.
Last month, Lillard released “Goat Spirit” featuring Raphael Saadiq and the powerful “Blacklist,” a song addressing police brutality of unarmed Black people. It’s a song he felt compelled to put out after the killing of George Floyd, who died after a Minneapolis police officer pressed a knee into his neck for several minutes.
Once the NBA season restarts, Lillard will have the words “How Many More?” stitched on his jersey. He said he does not consider himself an activist, but he wants to express his feelings on the good and negative matters impacting his community.
That’s what also led Lillard to release his new song and music video “Home Team” on Friday. The song pays homage to his family and closest friends that he financially helped start their entrepreneurial journey.
“They do all these things and those are the things that 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 that hangout with me, because I’m an NBA player. It’s my strong circle.”
— Associated Press
City guide founder dies of lung cancer
Tony Elliott, founder of the Time Out city guide publishing brand, has died at 73, the publisher said.
Time Out Group Chief Executive Julio Bruno said Elliott had been suffering from lung cancer and died Thursday.
Elliott founded Time Out as an entertainment and listings magazine for London during a university summer vacation in 1968, when he was 21, according to the publication’s website.
It went weekly in 1971 and became essential reading for fans of food, music, theater, movies and art. Time Out New York was launched in 1995, followed by similar publications in cities around the world, as well as a series of travel guides.
Time Out says its content, now largely online, covers 328 cities in 58 countries.
Time Out continues to publish a weekly print magazine in London, though it has been suspended during the coronavirus pandemic. The publication said its first post-lockdown print edition next month would be dedicated to Elliott.
The publication said Elliott was “a visionary publisher, a tireless champion of city culture and a staunch friend” whose life and work “inspired millions of people who did not have the good fortune to know him personally.”
— Associated Press