To many musicians in the hip-hop world, the art of free style is considered significant, but is it really? Also, what does “free style” actually mean? In an interview with Paul Edwards, author of How to Rap: The Art and Science of the Hip-Hop MC, hip-hop veteran, Big Daddy Kane said, “ In the ’80s when we said we wrote a freestyle rap, that meant that it was a rhyme that you wrote that was free of style, meaning that it’s not [on] a [particular] subject matter—it’s not a story about a woman, it’s not a story about poverty, it’s basically a rhyme just bragging about yourself, so it’s basically free of style…That’s really what a freestyle is. Off-the-top-of-the head [rapping], we just called that “off the dome”—when you don’t write it and [you] say whatever comes to mind.”
In the context of Big Daddy Kane’s definition, freestyle with focus on specific subject or topic was not freestyle back then. However, over the years, the art of free style evolved to include battle raps, as well as ciphers. Others also view free style as “more of a freeform expression of your art”, not just some rhymes made up on the spot. In the 80’s being able to rhyme “off the dome” wasn’t really prized, but as the rap game evolved, it became a significant factor to emcees, to a point that, when Rappers were asked to “freestyle” on media platforms, they would spit written rhymes, in order to make sure that their flow was tight and right.
Free styling is also no more a “hip-hop thing” as it’s been embraced in the dancehall culture, and even a few RnB artistes posses the ability to free style on the microphone. Nevertheless, as a rapper or a dancehall artiste, being able to spit “off the dome” may be a plus but doesn’t hinder your progress to have a successful career. Nigerian rapper, Ice Prince admitted without shame on Tim Westwood’s crib session that he wasn’t good at free styling on the spot, and due to that he had to write down his verses before spitting, yet he had a successful career as one of Africa’s top rated emcees.
Most often, when free styling, emcees say nothing special, they spit rhymes which meanings spawn possible associations to get the audience “wowed”. Only few people possess the ability to compose extraordinary verses in their free styles that can probably become a hit song. If an artiste is dope, that’s just it. Nobody cares if he/she is good at free styling or not. The interest lies in how many monster hits you can create, how many records you can sell and your ability to hold the crowd’s attention and keep them from walking away during your stage performance.(Flash Africa)
