For those readers who are somehow not aware, Lillard, aka Dame D.O.L.L.A., is as legit a musician as the NBA has ever seen.
可能有些读者还一直没意识到,“Dame D.O.L.L.A”已经成为了整个NBA联盟里前所未有的伟大歌手。
Even that distinction doesn't do him justice, as his lyrical talent and smooth delivery go way beyond the box that he gets put in as a — quote-unquote — basketball player who raps. He's really good. Period.
即便这份荣誉没能带给他应得的待遇,但他的抒情天赋和顺畅的表达能力远远不是一个所谓的会说唱的篮球运动员能够涵盖的。他的音乐真的玩得非常专业,毋庸置疑!
A quick personal story that speaks to the strength of his style: When his song "Bigger than Us" was released on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 2016.
他的歌曲“Bigger than us”于2016年在马丁路德金日发行。歌曲通过讲述一个极具个人色彩的小故事,展现了利拉德音乐风格的长处。
It came at a time when my two young sons were at that age where, as a parent, you need to have those real conversations about things like racism.
当时,我(笔者:利拉德本人)的两个儿子都处在一个需要父母跟他们讨论关于种族主义这样的事情的年龄。
That song, which looked at the grim reality of recent events and called for all of us to do our part to make it better,
而这首歌审视了当时社会的严峻现实,呼吁我们大家尽自己的力量来让社会变得更好,
served as a vehicle of sorts for that crucial discussion. I think about it every time the topic comes up again.
于是,我就用这首歌来和我的孩子们展开讨论。所以每当类似的话题再次出现时,我都会想到这首歌。
But when it comes to the unique experience of being an NBA player who is also a rapper, you have to integrate your own music into your pregame routine, right? Wrong.
但是同时身为NBA运动员和嘻哈歌手,有这这种与众不同的经历,意味着你必须将二者融合在一起嘛?并不是这样的。
"It's not like, ‘Just let me throw this (song of mine) on,'" Lillard said.
“对于我自己的歌,我并不是就‘让这首歌放着',”利拉德说。
"If I just throw my phone on and click on my music and it starts playing random music and one of my songs comes on, I'm like, ‘Man…'
“如果我打开我的手机,开始放音乐,然后我的一首歌响起,我心里就会感叹一声‘天哪’。
When you haven't heard your own music in a long time and you hear it, and you actually like it, I'll go back and start listening to more of it. But I don't just play my music."
当你很久没有听到自己的歌,然后你偶然听到时,而且真的喜欢那首歌时,我会回去再听一遍。我可不仅仅是就演奏自己的歌。”
As for Lillard's musical preferences when it comes to his hoops preparation, he agrees with Mitchell about the value of keeping it even keel.
至于利拉德的在赛前热身时的听歌偏好,他同意米切尔关于要保持心里平稳的观点。
And while he's deliberate with his playlist during those few hours before heading to the arena, Lillard does not wear headphones once he hits the court.
他会在去球场前几个小时里听歌,但一到球场他就会摘掉耳机。
"I've always listened to calm music," Lillard continued.
“我一直在听平静的音乐,”利拉德继续说道。
"Before my NBA career (during his high school days in Oakland, Calif., and in college at Weber State), the most hyped kind of music I would listen to before games is J. Cole, and he doesn't make that kind of music."
“在我的NBA职业生涯开始之前(加利福尼亚州奥克兰高中,韦伯州大时期),我听过最令人亢奋的歌手是乔科尔,比赛之前我会听一听他的歌,但他从没有制作过相对平静的歌曲。”
"Music creates a feeling, and I've always appreciated (that). Going into a game, or getting ready for a game, I've always wanted something to keep me calm.
“音乐会给我带来一种我很欣赏的感觉。在比赛中或准备进入比赛时,我总想获得一些东西使我保持冷静。
I never wanted to be too excited, or too riled up. And what I listen to, I just naturally played the kinds of songs that I felt at peace and calm about."
我不想太兴奋或是太激愤。就像我喜欢听的歌一样,我只是很自然地表演各种使我平和镇定的音乐。”
Conversely, there are songs that are simply too hard to hear when you're trying to get your mind right for a game — not because of the song, necessarily, but because of the memories attached to the song.
相反地,有些歌曲就不适合在赛前调整心态的时候去听,并不是因为这些歌怎么了,而是因为有些记忆和这些歌曲相联。
"There's a song called "Foolish" by Ashanti that I stay away from — I don't listen to that song, period, because that song was playing when I found out one of my cousins was killed a while back." Lillard said.
“比如有一首由Ashanti创作的名为Stupid的歌曲,我有时就会避免去听它,因为不久之前我的表兄被杀的时候,当时就响着这首歌。”利拉德说道。
"And that song just always made me think of it. But I don't think I've listened to that song one time since it happened."
“那首歌总是让我想到这回事。我想从那件事之后我就不会再想听这首歌了。”
Johnnie Bryant, the Jazz assistant who also grew up in Oakland and who Lillard considers a mentor and "big brother," can relate.
Johnnie Bryant,爵士的助理教练,同样成长于奥克兰,利拉德将其视作可以依靠的导师和哥哥。
"That's just the reality of what music can do," Bryant said. "And that's the beauty of music in and of itself is because it allows you to express how you feel and then also it allows you to recall certain times in your life when you hear certain songs."
“这就是音乐真正所能做的,”布莱恩特说。“而这就是音乐美妙之处所在,因为它允许你表达你的感觉,而且在生活中当你听到某些特定的歌词时,会使你回忆到那个特定的时间。”
"You have those songs, where they come on and I'm in that space now where I'll just fast forward it,
“你会把那些歌记在脑子里,当它们出现在脑海里时,我会快进跳过他们,
like 'I don't want to be there.' But then also, there's times when it's like, 'You know what? It's ok to be there right now.'
就好像再说‘我不想呆在那里。’但以后没准我会觉得,‘你知道吗?现在去那里没问题。’”
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