Ladies and Gentlemen – – it’s round two! The rap battle between Shaquille O’Neal and Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard continues. Some say beef, some say battle, some say fight. Take your pick. No matter what you call it, both men have dropped new diss tracks aimed at the other.
For those who haven’t been following the story, this all started when Lillard – who goes by the rap name Dame D.O.L.L.A – appeared on a sports and music-based podcast, claiming he was a better rapper than Shaq. Shaq of course has been appearing and performing as a DJ and rapper for quite some time – going by the name DJ Diesel. Lots of other stories here on the ShaqFu Radio blog…. Check ‘em out.
After Lillard first made the claim on the podcast, he issued a short rap track dissing Shaq. Shaq answered back, and you might have thought that would be the end of it. When asked about it afterwards, Shaq said his track dissing Lillard was “all in good fun.”
Fun or not, that hasn’t stopped Shaq from issuing another diss track. This one even has a name, “Second Round Knockout (Dame D.O.L.L.A Diss).” (Second track…get it?)
In this latest track, Shaq zeros in on Lillard’s lack of championships, but jabs at his rapping and songwriting skills, too.
Just a sample: “MVP candidate you are not one, platinum plaques on my wall go and get you some,” Shaq rapped. “Take ya time to respond, there’s no hurry. You’ll never be Westbrook, never be Steph Curry.”
O’Neal’s “Second Round Knockout” is set to Diddy’s “Victory” instrumental and talks ugly about Lillard’s historically not-so-great performances in the NBA playoffs.
“Talking crazy ain’t gone get you nothing but smoke,” he raps. “Like when we see you in the playoffs every year when you choke.”
For his part, Lillard has tried to establish himself as both a rap star and an on-court star as well. In his raps, he’s talked about some interesting bits of Shaq-history, including comparing basketball movies, saying Michael Jordan (and Bugs Bunny’s) “Space Jam” is better than Shaq’s basketball movie, “Blue Chips.” In the interest of full and fair reporting, this writer hasn’t seen either of those classics. (Big grin emoji goes here.)
Will this be the end of it? Probably not. We can’t take credit for this idea, but it’s a really good one: Maybe we just get Lillard on a night off, and bring him to the set TNT network set where he and Shaq can do a real live battle, live on TV. I’d watch that, for sure!