Shaquille O’Neal, or Shaq, came back on Monday with his second installment in response to Dame D.O.L.L.A’s second diss track. The Shaq attack was in full force.
On last week during the midst of the first lyrical sparring session between Shaq and Damian Lillard, we detailed the verbal back and forth between the two ballers. During our analysis of the lyrical exercise between the two, we spoke on how it was pretty close, even going as so far as to note and tally the number of punchlines or bars that each had gotten off during the first round.
After going through both entries, Shaq’s Freestyle and Dame D.O.L.L.A’s Reign Reign Go Away, we came to a conclusion. Based on the amount, delivery, and content of the punchlines from both artists/athletes, we determined that it could only be labeled a tie at that point, with another round needed before a winner could be determined.
Well, we got what we wanted. Damian Lillard returned on Friday evening with his second response to Shaq’s initial diss track. It was a pretty good song for what it was, but it wasn’t quite as good as his first attempt.
Shaq must have been listening to all of the social media fodder and takes that went along with the track submissions from Dame because he came back with a scorcher of his own for his second attempt.
The track is set to Puff Daddy’s(Diddy) Victory from his No Way Out album of 1997. Plain and simple, Shaq takes no prisoners here as he unleashes a verbal tirade in the direction of Damian Lillard.
Shaq opens with a barrage of bars towards Lillard. He even goes so far as to address some of the barbs hurled at him by Lillard in Lillard’s first entry into this squabble.
"That little Kobe comment you said had me grinnin’Three times MVP, Dame, at least I’m winnin’First of all, little boy, you see this ain’t beefYou just a [expletive] talkin’ while I’m hittin’, call it a queef"
Shaq didn’t stop there though. He then started to attack Lillard’s playing style and position in the league. Shaq started to throw his weight around a little as the track progressed, even going as far as to say he could have Lillard moved from the team if he wanted to at one point.
"And you shoot too much, dudes on your team hate itKeep talkin’, make a phone call, get you tradedYou probly chose 0 ’cause you thought it was hotYou ain’t hard ’cause in real life, you dress like a thot"
Lillard found it convenient to attack Shaq’s status as an endorser of products and an NBA analyst. Shaq pulled a classic rap tactic by taking those things and flipping them back on him, such as the move pulled by Eminem’s B-Rabbit character in the movie 8 mile. The common thinking there is that if a person airs themselves out by saying all the things about themselves that the opposition might say, it not only takes some of the gusto from those lines, but it simply limits the effectiveness or ability to say them.
"I’m in your [expletive] now, Damian, ain’t gon’ ever lay offSittin’ at the desk, watch you die in the PlayoffsThings I don’t need is attention and moneyAttention for what? Ten commercials runnin’, you dummyCan’t wait ’til you lose this yearDr. Diesel gon’ bring you in for your annual pap smear"
Shaq even started to attack Lillard’s credibility as an artist and as an Oakland area representative. Apparently, O’Neal did his homework before this entry into the beef. He really pulled out some deep facts for this particular attempt.
"See, you got the millennials fooledHow you rep Oakland but went to a Alameda catholic school?Sittin’ in a church, friendly casual facilityWritin’ rhymes don’t give your [expletive] no street credibility"
While Shaq got off quite a few more quotable lines between the prior set of lyrics and the end, the big bang so to speak was how he closed. While there is probably more satire than truth in Shaq’s closing lines, he continued to rebut some of the claims made by Lillard during his two attempts.
"Everybody gon’ hear this etherI don’t like your [expletive], I don’t like Charles Barkley eitherLyrically, I’m 7 foot 5 from the waist upTell you one more time, Dame D.O.L.L.A., shut your face up"
All in all, we said we needed another round to determine the winner and we got it. Shaq is the winner as of right now.
As mentioned, while Lillard’s sound is more similar to the hip hop music that we enjoy today, Shaq had the better diss tracks. His aim and direction were clear in both. It was a tie after the first round, but that isn’t the case at the moment.
Shaq took direct aim at Lillard and on most accounts, he hit his target. I honestly hope they keep going because it’s fun, besides and in knowing how much Dame hates to lose, he needs to in order to save face here. This is the case because Shaq just “banged on em”, as O’Neal said he still does in his first diss to Dame.