Portland Trail Blazers guard, and hip hop artist, Damian Lillard, who performs as Dame D.O.L.L.A. released the new music video for his song “Him Duncan” on Friday.
The title of this song is a play on NBA legend Tim Duncan’s name but isn’t the only reference he uses. In the video, Lillard pays homage to various celebrities both in sports and pop culture.
He shows love to the late hip-hop artist Tupac Shakur first, creating a black and white version of Shakur’s 1996 album “All Eyez on Me.” He also gave a nod to Biggie Smalls, better known as The Notorious B.I.G. Lillard recreated Smalls’ iconic “King of New York” image by Barron Claiborne in the video.
Lillard then pays tribute to track athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos, who wore black gloves and raised their fists on the medal stand during the 1968 Summer Olympics to protest racial inequities in the United States.
Dame D.O.L.L.A also stepped into the ring for his music video, channeling his inner Muhammad Ali. Lillard recreated one of the greatest images of the late-boxer — the picture of him standing over Sonny Liston after knocking him out in 1965. He didn’t yell “get up and fight sucker,” like Ali did, but he got the pose right.
Lastly, Lillard channeled Renaissance art. He made his own characterization of himself using Michaelangelo’s “The Creation of Adam,” the massive mural painted on the Sistine Chapel. In the video, he cropped his body on Adam’s, an interesting part of the video for sure.
.@Dame_Lillard pays tribute to some icons in his new “Him Duncan” music video 🐐 pic.twitter.com/5M91dZRuSA
— Dime (@DimeUPROXX) September 17, 2021
“Him Duncan” is from Dame D.O.L.L.A’s recent album, “Different on Levels the Lord Allowed,” which dropped in August.