Big Daddy Kane: Definition of Freestyle

by Kevin on March 19, 2010

Taken from the interviews for the book “How to Rap: The Art & Science of the Hip-Hop MC,” Big Daddy Kane explains that a real freestyle is a rhyme that is written down but is free of style. This is interesting, as a lot of people complain about how emcees freestyle today with their verses already written. Personally, I’ve always considered a freestyle to be something spit off the top of your head. What’s your take?

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drew j

That’s not a new concept to me. Back in 95 on the “Sittin’ On Chrome” album Masta Ace had a joint on there…Track 11 call “Freestyle”. At the beginning of that joint he said “This ain’t off the dome but it’s still a freestyle… for those of y’all that don’t know the real meaning.” There’s always been a difference between written freestyles and “off the head” freestyles.
http://thegreyninja.blogspot.com Kevin

i think through the evolution of time and cultures, a new kind of freestyle has been developed. obviously, in poetry you’ve got your free style or “free verse” where the lines and flow aren’t dictated by any pre-set rules. however, when most people “freestyle” these days nobody’s like, “hey HOLD UP, i’m gonna throw down some mad impromptu. check it..” just sounds LAME.

it’s sort of a word definition battle though, don’t you think?? if you believe freestyle means stepping outside any rules, that means anything’s game. i feel there’s a serious difference between “free verse” and “free style.” i think the strength of your freestyle is determined by natural talent, hard work, and doing your homework. if you’ve got no experience to play off, your game’s gonna be weak.

so sure.. i’ll go half way with him on that, and agree that there is some form of writing that CAN be part of real freestyle, but i’ll say it’s definitely not necessary, and definitely doesn’t account for the larger percent of what freestyling is to me.
http://kevinnottingham.com Kevin

Great comments guys!
Dj Caramel

now see, to me freestyle means straight off the dome , you may borrow a line or 2 from a song or a rap you have done but you expond on it and make it new and differnt. it does get confusing though because if thats the case, then everything Jay-z , big, and wayne and a few others have done would be considered nothing but freestyles because they don’t write anything down. its funny
BHM

To many of your points “freestyle” has multiple meanings. To BDK’s credit, emcees from his era it means both pre-written (with no set structure or course) as well as “off the top”. Off the top rhyming used to be frowned upon by because the rhyme sayers took the lyrical content so seriously and didn’t want to put anything out there that wasn’t well thought out. This is suppose to be the reason you never really heard Rakim Allah freestyle much. I believe that KRS-One was one of the emcees that was first given credit for coming off the top with rhymes that were cleaver. Around the time Biggie jumped off and it was said that he didn’t write down his rhymes is when heads really began to get open on the ability to do this. After that Jay-Z really pushed the point of this skill to where it gave you magic powers or something like that. Anyway, just my understanding of the term over the years from era to era…..
Grundz

I’ve always considered a freestyle being completely off of the cap, I mean, one may have one or two lines thought of previously in their heads, but other than that it should all be natural. Thats why I find it hard to believe when so many artists claim they are freestyling yet say nothing in relevance to their surroundings or the current setting. That is why people like Supernat are so amazing with the amount of skill they have because he actually takes items people can throw at him and talk about it in a new and clever way. Personally, I don’t like when artists release a record and call it the track name then say freestyle, for example “Over” Freestyle…It’s not a freestyle, its a remix, you did not freestyle the record, c’mon now lets be honest. But to be able to freestyle is a lost and precious art, it is very difficult and if honed correctly, it is amazing to watch someone with such skill and prowess…Anyway, those are my 2 cents on it haha.
http://rap1masse.blogspot.com Isbjerg

Back in the days ( 15 years ago ) I used to freestyle of the dome, talking about people on the front row about the room or stage I was in, and it was wack to have prewritten lines in your freestyle.. It was okay to have a bridge or something like yes yes yall or Ah yeah..

We have expanded it to have freestyle battles called MC’s Fight Night and put two MCs in a boxing ring and have three rounds with the first on a topic..
BigH

Btw, if you check out the book that interview is from (How To Rap), it has that quote, but then it also has Myka 9 from Freestyle Fellowship explaining that the term has morphed into its new meaning which is improvised lyrics, so there has been a change in the terms meaning.
It originally DID mean a written rhyme though, so don’t get that twisted.

1
http://www.myspace.com/pablogrin dub’s got ups

I totally agree with Grundz!

A completely pre-written verse is not a freestyle. Freestyle is about improvisation. Freestyle is a spontaneous thing, coming from natural feelings without constraint.

Supernatural is a freestyle MC:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ha91tTWCTA0
Shad K is a freestyle MC:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpSnXplBU9U
Big Proof was a freestyle MC:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxrqKcQlu9I

I mean, don’t get me wrong. You don’t need to have great freestyling skills to be a good MC.
Although, the ability to kick various combinations of complex rhymes with few or no previously composed lyrics, off the top of the head makes you great and exciting.
If you’re able to freestyle, rap is definitely in your blood, you’re a true artist.

PEACe
Craze1

I love how some of the kids on here are trying to overrule Big Daddy Kane and the original definition… smh.
If you don’t know who Big Daddy Kane is, and what years he debuted then you really need to read up. He’s saying that in the 80s a freestyle was a written rhyme, and that was the true, original definition – it’s not up for debate, it’s a fact, that’s how it was!
Grundz

We aren’t sayin that BDK is wrong in any way whatsoever, we were asked what our thoughts on what a freestyle was, and my explanation was how I’ve always known a freestyle to be. In no way at all am I saying BDK is wrong or doesn’t know what he’s talking about, read up homie!
http://www.myspace.com/pablogrin dub’s got ups

Craze1 is a funny dude.
http://kevinnottingham.com Thomas

Freestylng is an art (whatever your personal definition of it is) and skill, but song writing is an art and skill as well. Every artist can’t freestyle and every artist can’t construct a cohesive song. However, both are Hip-Hop and both are artist.

For example, every basketball player should know how to use their off hand for lay up, dribble, etc; however, everyone can’t. That doesn’t mean they aren’t ballers.
Craze1

@Grundz – word, I respect that, but still a lot of kids today somehow think an improv freestyle is the original definition and that if it’s not off the dome it’s not a freestyle… when really that’s wrong, a freestyle never was improvised in the first place… that’s some relatively recent new twisting of the term that has nothing to do with its original meaning
Grundz

Word word, I definitely agree that the original meaning has become twisted and evolved into different meanings over the years. I’m really glad Thomas mentioned what he did because it’s a great point. Some artists can freestyle with no issues or flaws, yet could have the hardest time trying to construct a song or a hook..And vice versa, those however who can do both equally good or great just adds more to their own personal construction. It’s the same with emceeing and producing..Its rare that most can do it, but those can do them both well adds even more character. For example, as cliche as this may sound, somebody like Drake can construct the fuck out of a song, but can’t freestyle in a sense, he may have pre-writtens but the verse is still free of style and he can twist it to any beat. As for someone like Big L, who was incredibly talented at freestyling, and was also pretty good at making actual songs, and most likely would’ve become even better if it hadn’t been for his untimely passing…Anyways I’ll stop rambling now ha.