Willamette week., August 11, 2017, Page 34, Image 34

MUSIC
DATES HERE
ALBUM REVIEWS
Dame D.O.L.L.A. CONFIRMED
(Front Page Music)
THE BLAZERS STAR TAKES
A STEP TOWARD HIP-HOP
LEGITIMACY.
[LILLARD TIME]
Appropriating the
iconography of Biggie,
Tupac and Nas on your
album cover is a ballsy
move for any rapper,
especially when you’re a
part-timer like Damian
Lillard. But that’s sort
of the point. Having
already hurdled the low bar for NBA players dabbling in hip-hop,
with his second full-length project, the Blazers star is demand-
ing to be measured against the same standards as any MC. To
that end, Confirmed is a significant step forward. It’s a much
more polished and dynamic effort than last year’s The Letter
O, with hard-hitting production and performances that alter-
nate between playful and fiery. Moving away from the come-up
anthems he used to fixate on, this is PG-13 Dame D.O.L.L.A.—
grittier and braggier, but still not cursing or otherwise endan-
gering his endorsement deals. At times, his attempts to balance
stunting with role-modeling get awkward, particularly when
big-name guests like Lil Wayne and 2 Chainz are forced to bite
their tongues. And flirty radio grabs like “Shoota” don’t really
suit him. But when he gets contemplative—as he does on “The
Let Down,” pondering the eventual end of his playing career and
whether his supporters will abandon him when he’s no longer
useful to them—Lillard displays a level of honesty that’s rare for
a pro-athlete, and for most rappers, too. MATTHEW SINGER.
HEAR IT: Confirmed is out now on all streaming platforms.
R.I.P. STREET REAPER (RidingEasy Records)
IT MIGHT NOT LOOK LIKE
TYPICAL DOOM METAL,
BUT IT SOUNDS LIKE IT.
[STREET DOOM] On
the surface, Portland’s
R.I.P. don’t resemble
your average doom metal
band. They call their
music “street doom,”
rock Eazy-E T-shirts
and use scythes for mic
stands. In such a serious
and morose genre, R.I.P.
inject a rare dose of levity into their image. But spend 45 minutes
with the band’s new LP, Street Reaper, and R.I.P. appear much less
iconoclastic. They pilfer pulpy ’70s and ’80s doom for all it’s worth,
from the theatrical vocals, to the “dark” lyrical clichés, to the slew
of predictable transitions between time signatures. The album’s
most damning moment comes when the band bites Black Sabbath
on consecutive songs. The reverb-drenched crawl of “Shadow
Folds” is a dead ringer for “Electric Funeral,” while ensuing track
“The Dark” opens with a guitar interlude that makes use of simi-
lar chords and tone as Sabbath’s own interlude, “Embryo.” Couple
that with bong-hit revelations like “Down deep inside your mind/
There’s a sea that you can’t find,” and Street Reaper seems best
enjoyed when experiencing the dazed wonderment and tempo-
rary memory loss associated with sweet leaf. If you have no time
for the psychedelia, abrasion or ambitious concepts of other doom
metal, and prefer something burly, macho and immediate, R.I.P.
are your guys. Otherwise, you’re best off leaving Street Reaper on
the shelf. PATRICK LYONS.
SEE IT: R.I.P. plays Tonic Lounge, 3100 NE Sandy Blvd., with
Cauldron, Amulet and Magnabolt, on Friday, Oct. 13. 9 pm. $10
advance, $13 day of show. 21+.
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Willamette Week OCTOBER 11, 2017 wweek.com