{"id":799972,"date":"2019-10-01T15:59:42","date_gmt":"2019-10-01T21:59:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/?p=893406"},"modified":"2019-10-01T15:59:42","modified_gmt":"2019-10-01T21:59:42","slug":"shaq-damian-lillard-and-the-most-bizarre-rap-beef-of-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/music-news\/shaq-damian-lillard-and-the-most-bizarre-rap-beef-of-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Shaq, Damian Lillard, and the Most Bizarre Rap Beef of 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/shaqdamian.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"><\/div>\n<p>Rap beef is evolving. Earlier this year, Joe Budden and Nicki Minaj staged an inter-podcast scuffle that managed to say more about the act of aging gracefully (or, in that case, not) in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/t\/hip-hop\/\" id=\"auto-tag_hip-hop\" data-tag=\"hip-hop\">hip-hop<\/a> than anyone would like to admit. Now, two NBA players with successful side careers as musicians prove that the weird can always get weirder. Five days ago, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/culture\/culture-sports\/shaquille-oneal-a-celebrity-for-the-new-world-64009\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Shaquille O\u2019Neal<\/a> posted a song aimed at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/culture\/culture-news\/damian-lillard-nba-hip-hop-893486\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Damian Lillard<\/a> after the Portland Trailblazer claimed that he was the better rapper than the larger-than-life legend. For all those scoffing at the idea of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/culture\/culture-sports\/flashback-shaquille-oneals-hall-of-fame-rap-career-101620\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Shaq as a rapper<\/a>, remember: He sold a million copies of his debut album <em>Shaq Diesel<\/em> and its follow-up, <em>Shaq Fu: Da Return<\/em> is certified Gold by the RIAA. Now, Lillard has responded with his own track, released on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>Below is a breakdown of how the past and present of NBA rap collided.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Inciting Incident<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" type=\"text\/html\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/K7-ixtu_HEk?version=3&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com&amp;rel=1&amp;fs=1&amp;autohide=2&amp;showsearch=0&amp;showinfo=1&amp;iv_load_policy=1&amp;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\">[embedded content]<\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>On a September episode of the Joe Budden Podcast, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/t\/damian-lillard\/\" id=\"auto-tag_damian-lillard\" data-tag=\"damian-lillard\">Damian Lillard<\/a> visited the popular interview show to promote his recent album, <em>Big D.O.L.L.A.<\/em> During the sit down, Budden and his co-hosts, Rory and Mal, ask Dame to compare his rap career to Shaq\u2019s impressive run in the early-to-late \u201990s. \u201cI think I rap better than Shaq. I\u2019ve heard Shaq\u2019s stuff,\u201d Lillard said. \u201cI think he was viewed as Shaq, though. People was like, this Shaq. It wasn\u2019t like, Shaq and Biggie. People weren\u2019t looking like this a real rapper. It was like, \u2018That\u2019s Shaq rapping.\u2019 So, of course, it was a big deal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Shaq The Rapping Puppet<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/tv\/B227HUMlBwt\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" data-instgrm-version=\"12\" readability=\"-7.5101351351351\"><\/blockquote>\n<p>Predictably, O\u2019Neal didn\u2019t take kindly to the comments. In retaliation to the perceived slight, Shaq decided to release a Damian Lillard diss record on Instagram. The video is outlandish, and a bit grotesque, as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=BEHg_Sm7av4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">sickly looking Shaq puppet<\/a> stands behind a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bumpboxx\/videos\/shaq-knows-whats-bumpin-this-holiday-season-the-worlds-loudest-bluetooth-boombox\/1701952179826376\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Shaq branded boombox<\/a> and tells his 13.2 million followers that \u201cIt\u2019s time to be disciplined. It\u2019s time to pull out that belt and woop a little ass.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The ass Shaq is after is presumably Lillard\u2019s, and for four minutes he fares pretty well. Is Shaq\u2019s flow dusty? Yes. Does the entire song sound like it was recorded on a karaoke mic in a hail storm? Absolutely. Is the song hilarious regardless? Why yes, yes it is.<\/p>\n<p>Shaq\u2019s diss is filled with quotables that are effective no matter the delivery, including the searing \u201cTake your time to respond, there is no hurry \/ You\u2019ll never be Westbrook, never be Curry\u201d and the needlessly specific, \u201cWhat\u2019s in your wallet, American Express or Visa \/ Talkin\u2019 like your Bron, You ain\u2019t even Trevor Ariza.\u201d Taken together, it\u2019s clear why Dame had to respond.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dame\u2019s Disrespectful \u2014 And Highly Entertaining \u2014 Response&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s get this out of the way: Damian \u201cD.O.L.L.A.\u201d Lillard\u2019s \u201cReign Reign Go Away\u201d is calculated and sinister, a hellraiser of a response. It repeatedly and systematically goes&nbsp;<em>just<\/em> too far and is far funnier because of how heated Lillard sounds at having to dress down Shaq in a public forum.<\/p>\n<p>Dame goes after every aspect of O\u2019Neal\u2019s career \u2014 <em>Blue Chips<\/em>, Shaq\u2019s ugly shoes, the pretty good 1996 genie movie <em>Kazaam<\/em>, the mediocre 1994 martial arts game <em>Shaq-Fu<\/em>, and the Cleveland Cavaliers years. The crown jewel of the track happens when Dame brings up Kobe\u2019s name, and from there delivers every subsequent word with an arena\u2019s worth of acid. \u201cKobe won you those rings though \/ Nursery rhyme spitting, small car sitting \/ Icy Hot poster boy, TNT snitching.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Shaq started the war, but \u2014 for now \u2014 Dame did more than enough to finish it.<\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-news\/shaq-damian-lillard-rap-beef-explainer-893406\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: Rolling Stone<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rap beef is evolving. Earlier this year, Joe Budden and Nicki Minaj staged an inter-podcast scuffle that managed to say more about the act of aging gracefully (or, in that case, not) in hip-hop than anyone would like to admit. Now, two NBA players with successful side careers as musicians prove that the weird can [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[98],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-799972","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-music-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-19 13:44:13","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSMT The Mountain","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799972","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=799972"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799972\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=799972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=799972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=799972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}