What can we learn from freestyle rappers?

Sun, 18 Nov 2012 16:00:00 +0000

My hometown, Minneapolis, may not have been the cradle of hip-hop, but by the late 90s, when I hit high school, it was a Mecca for indie rappers and DJs. More than a few of my friends kept “rhyme books” stashed in their lockers and spent weekends pawing through vinyl at Fifth Element, the local record store. I remember Brad Hartung, a youth leader and beat-box extraordinaire, picking up a microphone at a church retreat and just about blowing the roof off the sanctuary. I remember, too, a short-lived after-school rap group that recorded freestyle sessions in Pat Jarosch’s attic. Most of those friends are in law school now, but back then, they wanted nothing more than to become the next hip-hop hero from the Heartland.

Freestyling is to rap as improvisation is to jazz. Rather than reciting a pre-written rhyme, or reading off pages of sheet music, the artist stands up onstage and channels the Muse directly, no filter: whatever comes up, comes out. There are some rules, of course. Trumpet players have to stay in the right key and follow, say, a 12-bar count; emcees have to keep time with the beat, and recycling old material is frowned upon. Aside from that, it’s an artistic free-for-all.

Salon.com > Freestyle Rap

What can we learn from freestyle rappers?