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Back to Issue 3 - Fall/Spring 2013
Demonstration by firefli performed to a looping beat
Freestyle
Terrence Tran
When you think about music, you think of angelic performances with a well-constructed background that is conceived to aid the voice of a belting vocalist. You picture well trained guitarists, uncontrollable drummers, and larger-than-life singers. You imagine sell out performances with elaborate stage designs on towering platforms.
Freestyle Rap is not this. It’s a stripped down, grimy, and raw form of expression that hasn’t changed much since inception with the birth of Hip Hop music. In a time when musical acts can sell out stadiums and perform on world tours, Freestyle Rap has continued to exist as one of music’s most underappreciated art forms.
There are two distinct versions of Freestyle. The most commonly known form of this is referred to as rhyming “off the top.” Off The Top Freestyles are unrehearsed verses that can be performed a cappella or with the aid of a looping beat. This form of freestyle is completely spontaneous as rappers will perform improvised lyrics that generally are not prewritten. Freestyling Off the Top requires a heightened sense of awareness as you must simultaneously rhyme words to a rhythm while understanding everything that is going on in your surroundings.
This is why the ability to cleverly reference objects around your vicinity is held in high regard. The second form of Freestyle refers to prewritten verses that are not meant to have any particular narrative, but rather a showcase of a rapper’s lyrical prowess. Instead of being an improvised performance, this type of freestyle is usually performed over an instrumental to enhance the effect of the verses.
Rappers will use this kind of freestyle to impress the audience with cleverly written lines that may not have been written to become a song.
One of the most important elements of Freestyle Rap is the cypher as Freestyles can only be memorable when they incite roars of excitement from the crowd. The cypher is the circle that forms when people gather around to watch rappers prove their mettle. This is where they make their mark as their reputation hangs in the balance with each line that comes out of their mouth.
Legendary rapper KRS-ONE once described the crowd in a cypher to be similar to a crowd in a prize fight. There is an energy and intensity that is ignited by the performances of the rappers. If a rapper can impress the audience, the crowd will explode into frenzy as they embrace a series of clever lines. This reaction is intensified when the cypher evolves into a battle.
Freestyle battles are contests where two rappers will insult one another in the form of rhyme as the audience generally decides who the victor is. Battle Rapping can be traced to the 5th century as ‘flyting’, where poets would exchange verses filled with insults toward each other. Battles emphasize the aggressive side of rap music as each party will attempt to disrespect the other with clever insults.
The audience plays a pivotal role as they will erupt with excitement when someone provides a fatally crushing line to their opponent. The crowd will often become so captivated by a series of remarkable lines that they abruptly end the battle as their overwhelming enthusiasm decides the winner of the battle.
Music has many different forms, but none are quite as gritty as freestyle. It removes exotic instrumentation and strips down the music to emphasize the lyrics. This is why rap music is so closely linked to poetry, as the words are always the most important factor. So you can leave all of the symphonies, studios, notebooks, and arenas at home because when you step in the cypher, it’s a rap.