How To Freestyle Rap: The REAL Definition of Freestyling Explained (Tips + Examples)

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• published: 12 Oct 2016
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Today, we explain the definition(s) of “rap freestyling” in-depth to make this classic piece of Hip-Hop art less confusing to you and, if you’re motivated, help to motivate you to get WORLD CLASS at all of the versions of freestyling. The full notes and links from the video are provided below. Thanks for watching and be sure to subscribe and leave a comment! MORE INFORMATION ABOUT PERSONAL COACHING ON YOUR MUSIC: https://www.howtorapdrew.com/changethegame FREESTYLES MENTIONED: Eminem and Proof 90’s Breakdown - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWCb0RZLf5M Lupe Fiasco Off The Top on Sway - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQNUVdYIU1s Lil’ Wayne Upgrade U Freestyle - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmZV662IMSo Joey Badass on Sway against Troy Ave - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USdUm8lVgB4 Charlie Clips partially written partially freestyled - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9nyxBth-ao Common Off The Top on Sway - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkwOGdl4bTc LINKS TO NOSAM’S Music: https://soundcloud.com/nosam_music TIMESTAMPS: 3:34 Off The Top Freestyle Rap Explained 6:42 Written Freestyle Rap Decoded 7:58 Freeverse Freestyle Demystified 9:08 How To Identify Off The Top Freestyle Raps OVERVIEW: The three definitions of a freestyle... and yes there are three: The off the top freestyle The written freestyle The “freeverse” The difference between a freestyle and a freeverse How to identify them NOTE: There is no Oxford English Dictionary for rap. There are no commonly accepted definitions for this shit so if someone trolls you about it… fuck them… even common words like flow and what not have malleable meanings Anyway… The three definitions of a freestyle Definition 1: Off the top A spontaneous rap created without any or prethought or prewriting associated with it Can be performed with or without a beat although with a beat is slightly more challenging and is encouraged This is often considered the “classical” definition of a freestyle -meaning from the old school- and this why you see a lot of old heads complaining that this or that performance is “NOT A FREESTYLE” in the comment box NOTE: many of the best freestylers aware of common rhyme schemes and may use them in the flow, but this is not the same as prewriting it. Additionally occasionally they may intermingle off the top freestyles with the 2nd definition… a “written” freestyle An example would be Eminem’s old school MTV freestyle with proof we recently did a breakdown on OR Lupe’s well known off the top flow on Sway in the morning 2. A “written freestyle” A prewritten rap verse usually spit over another person’s beat or a “famous instrumental” to speak. Commonly these do not have a chorus, hook, bridge or any other song elements associated with them. Sometimes you will see this simply referred to as a “written” or “prewritten”, as in “NO writtens in this cypher!” Or “can I spit some writtens?” NOTE: the term “freeverse” is a recent development which seems to be a reaction to the confusion around these two definitions using the same word of “freestyle”. As far as I know, a freeverse is essentially the same thing as a written freestyle. examples would be most of the Lil Wayne “freestyles” on his classic mixtapes The Drought 3 and the Dedication series such as “Upgrade U” freestyle or many of the radio freestyles you hear such as Joey Badass’ killer response to Troy Ave on Sway How To Identify An Off The Top Freestyle Off the top freestyles commonly have filler words, phrases, or pauses in them… even among the best freestylers in the world For example, check out Charlie Clips freestyle on Hot 97. He is among the most well known freestylers in the world but he still uses moments of silence or pauses to quickly think of new content. Additionally, off the top freestyles often have numerous references to things around them or happening in their life. Not just a name drop or whatever but multiple references. Also if you see people throwing out words for rappers to rhyme with (common place), that's a strong indication it's off the top, almost like a parlor trick. Lastly, off the top freestyles are simply not as good as writtens most of the time. Check out one of Common’s Sway freestyle as an example. It's quite good and even uses words thrown out by the crew but is it as good as Resurrection? NO. If you hear a so-called freestyle that doesn't follow these rules, you can assume it's probably mostly written.