Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme & Spiritual Roots of Hiphop
By Katrina Orpilla
“Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme” is a creation that was seven years in the making with a large-scale collaboration including a variety of original, passionate and active Hiphoppers. This thought-provoking and intimate documentary takes a closer look into the world of freestyle emceeing, providing a unique, honest, and accurate representation of true Hiphop and rap culture; its roots and art forms, and a fleeting moment where the spiritual force is manifested in spontaneous verbal outbursts.
Background
The roots of emceeing can be traced back to the Africation tradition of oral story telling, to Southern preachers elaborating on gospel teachings, to the 1970s with DJ Kool Herc throwing a party for his sister, “Jamaican toasting” (shouting random things into the mic to hype the crowd) to music that was popular to the crowd at the time. The artforms of emceeing and deejaying evolved simultaneously along with graffiti art and breaking, leading to the birth of the Hiphop culture.
Emceeing (MC) is composed of two artforms: freestyle and written rhymes. Usually people who are good at one, aren’t so flash with the other. Sometimes you can’t tell whether a lyricist is a true freestyler if they claim to be, but one way to determine truth from BS is through battles.
Battles
The film commented that a freestyle rap battle looks (and sounds) violent, but it’s really just humour in exaggerated tones. This really made me think. To me, the violent aspect of the description is reminiscent of a krump battle or a true bboy battle in its truest, rawest form; the energy, attitude and aggression is all there, but it’s just a front, their battle face which they (usually) take off as soon as they step off the battlefield. It’s more about the moves or the rhymes you can pull off while you’re in that zone, and what happens during the battle stays there.
One of the first real freestyle battles I seen live happened very recently: one side was experienced and one of the best in Australia; the other, was a first-time battler but not new to freestyling at all. To see the reaction of the inexperienced one after the other did his first set, crucifying him and continuing to do so in his following sets, was kind of awkward – we know battles can be cruel but it’s part of it, but just seeing the guy getting really offended and disheartened made me think twice about battles and their significance.
The other MC apologized and claimed defeat, admitting he was too harsh; I remember him saying a while ago that he wasn’t really into battling because of the spiritual nature of emceeing and how battles can really become quite derogatory and negative, and now I finally see that for myself.
I am reminded of that battle while the documentary shows the most highly anticipated MC battle in ’93, pitting MC Supernatural against Craig G of the legendary Juice Crew in the Lyricist Lounge; they were considered the best freestyle MCs at the time and the first battle saw Supernatural get smoked, some even saying it was the beginning of the end for his career.
Supernatural – The Greatest Freestyle MC?
Nevertheless, Supernatural is still going strong, still doing what he loves and what he does best, his famous technique for getting a crowd to bring items and hold them up to him as he goes along each one, rhyming about all sorts of random things. They say nothing rhymes with “orange” but Supernatural has ways to make it work; to arrive at such skill he read the regular English and rhyming dictionary daily as well as using anything and everything as a source of inspiration for his lyrical flow.
Freestyle emcees are urban poets with mental stamina improvising verses over a beat – unedited, unrestricted. Freestyle, as claimed in the documentary film, is “somewhere between a song and a speech”; the art of improvisational rap that is rarely recorded and often neglected by the media or portrayed negatively as violent and derogatory.
Why all the negative connotations of Hiphop and rap?
Think about the socio-economic backgrounds of the people, the community from which the Hiphop culture evolved – poverty, racial discrimination, stereotyping and inequality. Individuals speak on their experiences and their views on the world in a sincere and candid manner; this is not all the time, but the media for so long has chosen for the general public what they listen to, creating a misconstrued truth which commercial rap artists adapt to for their own personal benefit.
What we can do as individuals is get educated and contribute to the positive reinforcement of what Hiphop is really about – a culture, a community that promotes peace, love and unity.
Through DJs whose instruments are turntables, beatboxers who can replicate drum sounds – they provide the music and beats for the dancers to physically express themselves and for the MCs, the urban poets, to tell a story; graffiti artists who substitute paintbrushes for aerosol cans and those that recognize and ‘live’ this culture lead a spiritual life, seeing the potential for the Hiphop culture as a catalyst for social change and self-empowerment.
“The ultimate in Hiphop is that fleeting moment of escape.”
The art of rhyme, this spiritual, raw form of creative expression will find that one can become so immersed in the zone that they really can’t explain or teach people what they’re doing – rather, tell them about the basics and foundations and allow them to explore and find meaning for themselves, hence the terms “free” and “style”.
There are no boundaries, no limitations, no prepared lines – just the moment.
Trina
www.Hiphop.org.au
www.Dancing.net.au | Related News Items Rap Music
Thousands of brands, hundreds of stores, the convenience of onecart™.
Complimentary Rap Ringtone to Your Cell
Download new rap ringtone. Includes 50 Cent, Nelly, Daddy Yankee, Chamillionaire, and more. Chooser from 50,000 ringtone, wallpaper, and games.
Raw Rap Beats for $10.00
At Blood Raw Beats, you'll find a large selection of raw rap beats created from old school samples with new age equipment for only $10.00 each.
USA Only - Music Downloads 99¢/Month
Rap downloads. Find any music, movies, games and software fast.
Rap on CatalogLink.com
Buy Rap on CatalogLink.com. Request Free Catalogs online.
Rap Music at Shopping.com
Find, compare and buy Rap Music. Choose from thousands of stores.
Rap
Find a vast selection of CDs, from in all styles, from children's music to heavy metal, new and used, it's all on eBay.
Get Booked For Rap Club Gigs
Gigmasters has been booking rap artists for club gigs throughout the U.S. and Canada since 1997. We provide audio, video, photo slide shows and more.
The Original Hip-Hop (Rap) Lyrics Archive Version 2.0 (Beta)
INFO ON HOW TO SUPPORT OHHLA.COM. OHHLA.com supports the Anti-Biter's Campaign ...
Rap Lyrics Search.com
Search a database of rap lyrics or browse songs from the artist index. ... Commercial use prohibited. Rap Lyrics Search is a not-for-profit resourc...
Top New, Hip Hop, R&B, Modern Rock, Reggae, Pop, Country, Lyrics
lyrics to songs being played on the radio today. ... 2006 The Rap Up - Skillz. Oh Yeah - Lil Scrappy. Let Go - Megan Rochell. Top 2006 Lyrics ...
Rap Lyrics Translated
RAP LYRICS. TRANSLATED. This paper was turned in by an Oakland High school student who received the ... the following Rap song lyrics from Ebonics ...
Rap Lyrics - Hip-Hop Lyrics - Learn Your Favorite Rap and Hip-Hop Lyrics
Learn the lyrics to your favorite rap/hip-hop songs. ... About>Entertainment>Rap / Hip-Hop> Hip-Hop 101> Hip-Hop Lyrics. Rap / Hip-Hop. Entertainme...
The Original Hip-Hop (Rap) Lyrics Archive Version 2.0 (Beta)
Ahmad AJ Ak-9ine Akbar Akinyele Akir Akon Akrobatik Alchemist Al-D Alexipharmic ... BG Knocc Out and Dresta Big B Big Black Lincoln Big Daddy Kane ...
About Rap/Hip-Hop - Rap and Hip-Hop Profiles, Reviews, Top Picks, News, and More
Buckle up and enjoy the musical ride with About Rap Guide, Henry Adaso. ... 5 Christmas Rap Albums10 Essential Hip ... Top 10 Rap Releases for Febr...
Hip-Hop Database | Hip-Hop (Rap) Database
A directory of underground hiphop lyrics and rap artists. ... Lyrics Directory - # - A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O ...
song lyrics rock rap country music mp3 downloads
song lyrics search and find the music you love rock, rap, country, heavy metal, and jazz. ... L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z. Song Lyrics Music rap ...
Rap Lyrics, Rock Lyrics, Country Lyrics, Pop Lyrics and Love Lyrics
English song lyrics. This site is light and loads fast. ... Huge Collection of Rap Lyrics, Rock Lyrics, Country Lyrics, Pop Lyrics and Love Lyrics ...
Rap Lyrics Search
1001
- Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
Lyrics contained within Rap Lyrics Search subject to US Copyright Laws and are ... Rap Lyrics Search is a not-for-profit resource. ...
Lyrics Now: Strictly Rap and R&B
Organized by artist. Also includes soundtracks and compilations.
FEMA For Kids: FEMA for Kids Rap
When disaster strikes, we are at our best ... In order to listen to the audio file on this page, Real Audio Player is required. Download Real Playe...
Urban Legends Reference Pages: Takin' the Rap
... student wins Ebonics competition by translating rap lyrics into standard English? ... up shows, during which he offers "translations of rap lyr...
|
