Dame D.O.L.L.A. (@Dame_Lillard) - "Y.A.G.I." (Mixtape)

Within a few months, Oakland son and NBA star Damian Lillard suffered a major injury that ended his tenure with the Milwaukee Bucks and put his basketball career on hold for a year. He’s since moved back to his adopted home of Portland, where his three kids live with their mother, and reunited with the Portland Trail Blazers and a city that has put him on a pedestal. With that out of the way, he could focus on his second vocation: Music. His new mixtape, Y.A.G.I., stands for “You Acquire Greatness Internally.” It follows the acronym- and motivational-message-loving artist (the D.O.L.L.A. in his stage name Dame D.O.L.L.A. stands for “Different On Levels the Lord Allows”) over the past few months of his life and how he’s pivoting in his personal and professional life, which is often one and the same. Lillard has been jumping over hurdles for more than a year, from injury-related on-court setbacks to a public split with the mother of his children, and perceived slights about his skills and intentions. It’s not as complete of a record or a story as 2023’s Don D.O.L.L.A., but it’s not meant to be. Opener “Homecoming” is Y.A.G.I.‘s best track. It’s about stepping up as a father with shared custody, his bumpy ride in Milwaukee, having to overcome the torn achilles that ended his time there, and about one day getting his flowers for balancing his basketball skills with his responsibilities as an upstanding citizen and a family man. Lillard handles the first few bars over a piano-led melody and organic, woodsy beat. The song kicks into a higher gear when L.A. artist Dreebo delivers a sung verse and, finally, Grammy-nominated Oakland educator and poet Prentice Powell finishes it off with a spoken word piece about righteous responsibility. Dame D.O.L.L.A. has several chips on his shoulders, and they show on songs like “Dolla Season” (with Ivory Scott) and “We Ain’t Got the Same Story” (with Sy Ari Da Kid). “Heavy is the the head but I’ll wear it on me,” he raps on the former, a braggadocios warning over an ominous skittering beat to those sleeping on him while he’s down. On the latter, a kiss-off track with a more traditional trap beat with chirping high-end, he reminds detractors of his Olympic gold while humorously rapping about Steve Urkel’s alter ego, Stephon. Elsewhere, the boastful “Back Activated” features Atlanta artist K Camp and Vallejo’s Rexx Life Raj, the three rapping about being “cut from a different fabric.” It’s got an interesting arrangement, with D.O.L.L.A. delivering the through line while his guests duet with each other. On “Riq Havoc” and “My Daddy’s Son Pt. 2,” he shouts out his hometown, of which he’s so protective. The latter is as much an homage about his roots and his devotion to where he’s from: “I’m from Oakland, I won’t say the Bay/ That shit ain’t the same.” His sharp tongue keeps them from leaning into melodrama or overt sincerity, however. “Dawgskii” shows the rapper looking into the future of his personal life while circling the wagons on the drama of the public reaction to his separation from the mother of his children. “It’s gonna be a little minute before I love a bitch/ Real shit/ That’s the kind of freedom on my bucket list,” he spits over a laidback beat and synth-laden melody. “Respect my mind and I reciprocate it” He’s got a year to start laying the groundwork. - via Riff Magazine