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Freestyle is a style of hip hop music where an artist improvises an unwritten verse from the head, with or without instrumental beats, in which lyrics are recited with no particular subject or structure.
- Juice WRLD. 3,199 votes. When it comes to showcasing mind-bending wordplay and sheer vulnerability, Juice WRLD was a revolutionary force in the world of freestyle rap.
- Eminem. 2,570 votes. Slim Shady himself, Eminem, has cemented his position in history as an unparalleled freestyle rapper with unmatched wit and wordplay.
- Tupac Shakur. 810 votes. As a trailblazer in the hip-hop world, Tupac Shakur remains an enduring symbol of raw talent and powerful self-expression. His freestyle ability, rooted in insightful social commentary and unapologetic authenticity, elevated the art form to a whole new level.
- The Notorious B.I.G. 988 votes. Renowned for his smooth delivery and unmatched storytelling ability, The Notorious B.I.G. effortlessly blended the gritty realities of street life with an impeccable sense of rhythm.
Mar 18, 2021 · Freestyles are the epitome of improvisation and creativity, taking away the comfort of preparation and predictability to test rappers’ skills ‘off the dome’. Although historically intertwined, freestyling and battle rap are not the same thing.
- Big L and Jay-Z - “7 Minute Freestyle” (Stretch and Bobbito) - Big L’s Verse. Year Released: 1995. Lyric: “I got the looks that make your hottie stare / I keep a shotty near, it's that n***a with knotty hair who Gotti fear.”
- Big L and Jay-Z - “7 Minute Freestyle” (Stretch and Bobbito) - Jay-Z’s Verse. Year Released: 1995. Lyric: “Check it out, I'm too cocky, to stop me you gotta kill me / And when I'm gone, you can still feel me, on the real, B.”
- Black Thought - "Funk Flex Freestyle" Year Released: 2017. Lyric: “And just 'cause they give you shit don't mean you have to take it / My words capture greatness, sworn affidavits”
- Odd Future - "Oldie" - Frank Ocean's Verse. Year Released: 2012. Lyric: “Rent a supercar for a day / Drive around with your friends, smoke a gram of that haze / Bro, easy on the ounce, that's a lot for a day / But just enough for a week, my n***a, what can I say?”
- Rhyming Your First Rhymes
- Developing Your Freestyles
- Building Vocabulary
Listen to lots of freestyling.
Unwritten freestyle raps from straight off the dome will probably be somewhat rougher and more unpolished than the tracks you've been listening to, but they can also be more unpredictable and thrilling. Freestyle has its own feel and listening to other rappers freestyle is a good way to learn the tricks of the trade.
Check out live battles or hip-hop freestyle competitions if your town offers them. Go and listen. This can also be a good way to meet other aspiring rhymers and make connections.
YouTube is a great resource for videos of freestyle battles from all eras. Everything from Notorious B.I.G. rapping on a street corner at the age of 17 to classic Eminem battles to the smattering of underground rappers free-styling over a new Kanye West track are good research.
Turn your starter lines into punch lines.
The best way to increase the speed of your flow and improve your freestyle game is by reversing the way you work. If you've been practicing by starting with a line you've written and then moving away from it by improvising, make yourself start with a new line and work toward that line you've already written and you know is good.
This is where those rhyming clusters will help you. If you've got an especially good punch line, practice by rhyming as many different things as you can with it. Exercising around that line will make sure that you've got lots of different options the next time you're improvising.
In the beginning, it makes the most sense to freestyle around hard end-rhymes like "bear" and "chair," but eventually those may start becoming stale and leading you into clunky rhymes.
Slant rhymes share consonant sounds without necessarily sharing vowel sound directly. "Vowel" and "bowl" for example, are slant rhymes.
Assonance and alliteration are sound-devices in which vowels and consonants, respectively, are repeated in a line. Edgar Allan Poe in his famous poem "The Raven," uses both at once: "the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain" repeats "s" sounds and "ur" sounds.
The more you write raps and rhymes, the more raps and rhymes you ultimately know. As you write rhymes, practice coming up with multiple variations on the same rhyming words. These clusters of rhymes will serve you well when you begin free-styling, because you'll be able to think of something quickly if you've used these rhymes before.
Try different exercises, like picking five words at random and working them into a rhyming structure of a few lines.
Don't worry if what you're writing isn't "rap." Just keep the pen moving. Building good habits of journaling and writing will keep your mind disciplined toward words and thinking in terms of composition, something you'll have to do very quickly if you want to freestyle.
If you hope to be able to freestyle, words are going to be your medium. As a painter uses paints and a sculptor uses clay, a rapper uses words, so you need to gather as big a pile of familiar words you possibly can so that you can draw on them in your rhymes. Reading a diverse variety of books, comics, online articles, and magazines is the best way to do this.
Oct 2, 2024 · Vote on your favorite Freestyle groups and artists. Rising to prominence in the mid-1980s, freestyle music features many qualities that are associated with electronic dance music and dance-pop. Also nicknamed Latin hip hop, the best freestyle artists hit the mainstream and have managed to have a few top-40 hits.
The term "Freestyle" is an integral part of Hip Hop. But what does it mean? This piece delves into the evolution of one of Hip Hop's most common, yet most mi...
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