Damian Lillard Album Review

Finally, an athlete who can actually rap! I've been big on the 'Dame can actually rap' train for awhile now, but even I wasn't expecting this.

Let me just start off by saying that anytime you have Lil Wayne AND 2 Chainz on the same album, you have officially come up. I'm not here for the Lil Wayne and 2 Chainz slander, y'all can miss me on that. There's professional rappers who would do a drive by shooting for a Wayne verse. Now, on to the actual review.

I'm a sucker for lyrics, give me that over amazing beats any time and Dame delivered on that note. In his song "Anomaly", with 2 Chainz, he raps "Five years in the league, to say the least, have been eventful//The greatest teams assembled, that ain't really what I'm into." We all know exactly what he's talking about when he's referencing Kevin Durant joining the Warriors. Thats just a great line no matter what, there's some Reggie Miller shit-talking mixed with some wittiness.

Please don't think Dame is just here for shit-talking, because he can also keep it real and express exactly what he's going through. "Though my success be putting holes on some relationships//A lot of people I love be having impatience with//Always problems 'bout who I be going places with//And I'd be worried about who I should feel the safest with." There's some real substance to what he's saying, he's not just out here rapping about Xanax and Lean. I admire that honesty.

There are some real bangers on that album when it comes to beats. '5th of Henn' might be my favorite beat off of the album. You cannot listen to that song and not bump your head, if you do, then you're just not a hip hop fan. 'One and Only' delivers that nice head bobbing, smooth beat. It's a song your girlfriend will probably vibe to as well.

The whole album itself has a new, mixed with old, vibe. And I love that. I grew up on late 90's rap and this definitely has the feel to it like a 90's rap album, but intertwined with today's beat. There are definitely some beats that are 'today's rap', but the whole sound surrounding the album is catered towards Old School.

Grading this album 1 to 10, 10 being "The Chronic", "Illmatic" "Marshall Mathers LP", etc., I give this album a solid 8.