Dame D.O.L.L.A., a.k.a. Damian Lillard, Raps About His East Oakland ‘Home Team’

Welcome to Pass the Aux, where every week we feature new music by Bay Area artists. Check out past entries and submit a song for future coverage here.

Last week Deep East Oakland-bred NBA hoop star Damian Lillard, a.k.a. Dame D.O.L.L.A, released his latest project, Different on Levels the Lord Allowed. It features songs with big industry names⁠—Snoop Dogg, Raphael Saadiq, Q-Tip and Lil Wayne⁠—as well as top talent from the Bay Area, including Jane Handcock and Tree Thomas.

If you passed me the aux cord this week, I’d skip directly to the eighth track on the album, “Home Team.” The song features Dreebo, and focuses on D.O.L.L.A’s commitment to seeing his family prosper. “Stressin’ ‘bout the taxes paid, this shit be crazy/ But I still got enough to feed my babies’ babies’ babies’/ Big money, Dame D.O.L.L.A, not the dollar signs/ Whole circle college grads, family shit, proud of mine,” Dame raps.

Falling in line with the theme of the track, the video depicts the Oakland High School legend going about his everyday life⁠—getting a haircut, having a security camera installed, even doing some farming⁠—all in the company of people he’s known for years, as evidenced by the archival photos flashing throughout the video.

As a multimillionaire and perennial NBA all-star who has garnered contracts with the likes of Adidas and Hulu after coming from humble beginnings in the Brookfield neighborhood, rapping about the importance of intergenerational wealth is the realest shit you can spit. And it’s motivation for those of us who are focused on the same goal.