Freestyling/not writing = most irrelevant "skill" ever

[FreeSpeech]

Yes, it's impressive when someone can spit lines off the top of their head with no prior thought. However, it does absolutely nothing to contribute towards making dope music. I gaurantee no one could EVER truly freestyle an amazing song like Lose Yourself or something. It's a good exercise, but you could be a god awful freestyler and still be an insane lyricist.

And I HATE when rappers brag about not writing. It's stupid. Yes, you can probably spit better when not reading of a sheet, but just memorize your lines. Wiz said one of the reasons he named his album Rolling Papers was because he was done with paper, it was "rolling" out. He said that the lyrics were his most natural. We'll guess what? While a good party/car album, the lyrics were shit. 0 impressive multis, 0 impressive examples of lyricism, and 0 content. While there was nothing jawdropping on Show and Prove, the lyrics were dope and clever.

[classthe_king]

It may be irrelevant now but in the old days freestlying on the corner or at rap shows was a way of proving how good of an emcee you were and establish your name.

[WakeUpShow]

I hate freestyling, I don't get how anyone could sit though one of those radio freestyles. They never say anything. Battle rap freestyling however, like Grind Time are amazing and truly take skill/wit.

[classthe_king]

Royce Da 5'9" - Airplanes Freestyle > 70%+ Pre-written music

That was not freestyled lmfao

[Satire]

Royce Da 5'9" - Airplanes Freestyle > 70%+ Pre-written music

That was written though.

[kobashi]

I hate freestyling, I don't get how anyone could sit though one of those radio freestyles. They never say anything. Battle rap freestyling however, like Grind Time are amazing and truly take skill/wit.

Grind Time is pre written battles though dude. They have had the odd off the top battle but 99% of that is pre written. Some guys do throw in some off the top flips though!

[Satire]

Royce Da 5'9" - Forever Freestyle > 70& Pre-written music.

How the hell it was officially released as "Airplanes Freestyle" and it wasn't a freestyle tho ?

I hate explaining this because it occurs so much. It's like when you tell a kid for the first time that Santa Clause isn't actually real.

People label anything that wasn't meant for a song a "freestyle" now a days. Drake (and his clones) have done "freestyles" while blatantly reading off of their Blackberries. You can tell what's an off the top freestyle and what's not.

When someone's "freestyle" keeps up with their actual writtens, it's likely written.

When someone spits a clever metaphor/wordplay that flows perfectly, it's likely written. (There are exceptions to this)

When someone's delivery is almost perfect and rehearsed, it's likely written.

When someone is rhyming nearly whole coherent sentences with each-other for several lines at a time, it's likely written.

[classthe_king]

Royce Da 5'9" - Forever Freestyle > 70& Pre-written music.

How the hell it was officially released as "Airplanes Freestyle" and it wasn't a freestyle tho ?

Do you honestly not know the difference between an off the dome freestyle and a pre-written freestyle?

[ThomasAguanis]

Here's another way to put it what was already stated. Freestyle can be switched with free verse and mean the same thing. Most "freestyles" are just left over, out of place verses, or specifically written verses to use when promoting an album or something. That's why they usually seem to be solid, quality verses. Few artists freestyle without using writtens, and it's usually obvious when they do. A lot of times verses will be used for freestyles and later be used in full songs. An example of that would be the Slaughterhouse Green Lantern freestyle from a while back, as well as countless others.

Also, most of the video rap battles are pre written and it's been openly known/ accepted for years. The people battling usually have months to prepare their bars, hence why some are so crazy. If a battle takes place on short notice, it is usually announced at the beginning of the battle and it may/may not be judged. Most short term notice battles I've seen recently have not been judged, so that's why I included that point, if you were wondering. Battle rappers who openly freestyle during battles tend to have it used against them by the judges. I was watching a Suregon General battle a few days ago and this was the case. True freestyle battles are a rarity these days. The battle scene has evolved greatly over th last few years alone, and it clearly shows. Just watch an old Jumpoff street battle (MIC Assassin is a great freestyler from that time) and compare it to mostly any GrindTime/Url/Don’t Flop/etc. battle and the difference is clear.

[Block]

You're ignorant. Freestyling is an artform. I don't have the time or patience to get in to it right now, since I just woke up, but you're wrong. Being better at freestyling also makes a person a better writer; words come to your head a lot more quickly and you learn to use the beat more efficiently. Before the age of pre-written battles, freestyling was the only way to battle. And you're trying to say it's irrelevant?

[Hadez]

You're ignorant. Freestyling is an artform. I don't have the time or patience to get in to it right now, since I just woke up, but you're wrong. Being better at freestyling also makes a person a better writer; words come to your head a lot more quickly and you learn to use the beat more efficiently. Before the age of pre-written battles, freestyling was the only way to battle. And you're trying to say it's irrelevant?

being able to throw random lines together on a whim doesn't mean you can form a complex writing with relevance to itself throughout the whole thing.

[Block]

You're ignorant. Freestyling is an artform. I don't have the time or patience to get in to it right now, since I just woke up, but you're wrong. Being better at freestyling also makes a person a better writer; words come to your head a lot more quickly and you learn to use the beat more efficiently. Before the age of pre-written battles, freestyling was the only way to battle. And you're trying to say it's irrelevant?

being able to throw random lines together on a whim doesn't mean you can form a complex writing with relevance to itself throughout the whole thing.

Who says the lines are random? Not all freestyling is random jibberish. If you had took the time to actually read what I said, instead of replying out of ignorance, you'd realize that I made two distinct statements.

One: Being better at freestyling also makes a person a better writer; words come to your head a lot more quickly and you learn to use the beat more efficiently

Two: Before the age of pre-written battles, freestyling was the only way to battle

Both of which hold true. Freestyle battling is random jibberish? Have you ever watched scribble jam? Some of the most classic punches in hip hop battle history were freestyled.

[Hadez]

You're ignorant. Freestyling is an artform. I don't have the time or patience to get in to it right now, since I just woke up, but you're wrong. Being better at freestyling also makes a person a better writer; words come to your head a lot more quickly and you learn to use the beat more efficiently. Before the age of pre-written battles, freestyling was the only way to battle. And you're trying to say it's irrelevant?

being able to throw random lines together on a whim doesn't mean you can form a complex writing with relevance to itself throughout the whole thing.

Who says the lines are random? Not all freestyling is random jibberish. If you had took the time to actually read what I said, instead of replying out of ignorance, you'd realize that I made two distinct statements.

One: Being better at freestyling also makes a person a better writer; words come to your head a lot more quickly and you learn to use the beat more efficiently

Two: Before the age of pre-written battles, freestyling was the only way to battle

Both of which hold true. Freestyle battling is random jibberish? Have you ever watched scribble jam? Some of the most classic punches in hip hop battle history were freestyled.

ok so the punches are classic, so? a punchline in a battle and/or freestyle (off the top) holds no relevance to anything else prior to/after being said. at no time did i say it was jibberish. if somebody demolished somebody else in an off the top battle, that's certainly impressive. but just as i said, stringing together one liners on a whim will not necessarily net you better writing.
will it be easier to come up with lyrics? sure. but just because it is easier, doesn't mean you'll be better at it.

[Block]

ok so the punches are classic, so? a punchline in a battle and/or freestyle (off the top) holds no relevance to anything else prior to/after being said. at no time did i say it was jibberish. if somebody demolished somebody else in an off the top battle, that's certainly impressive. but just as i said, stringing together one liners on a whim will not necessarily net you better writing.
will it be easier to come up with lyrics? sure. but just because it is easier, doesn't mean you'll be better at it.

You just ran around in circles and said nothing relevant to what I said. Good job trying, I suppose. Just sit down and let the big boys talk it out.

[Block]

ok so the punches are classic, so? a punchline in a battle and/or freestyle (off the top) holds no relevance to anything else prior to/after being said. at no time did i say it was jibberish. if somebody demolished somebody else in an off the top battle, that's certainly impressive. but just as i said, stringing together one liners on a whim will not necessarily net you better writing.
will it be easier to come up with lyrics? sure. but just because it is easier, doesn't mean you'll be better at it.

I hate the fact I have an overwhelming urge to respond to your ignorance.

How the hell do you not see the correlation between being able to come up with dope punches / metaphors / multies (whatever is relevant to a battle) off the top of your head0--on the fly, and that having the ability to make a person a better writer? How do you miss that connection?

If a person can come up with THAT type of stuff in a freestyle, I'm guessing they can come up with even more intricate lines when they actually sit down to write a song. Freestyling opens up the brain for a person to think faster and put things together in quicker manner. How would that not make someone a better writer? I'm not saying that being able to freestyle would make someone a great lyricist. Don't get it twisted. I'm saying that their writing will come more naturally; The actual act of writing, not what they write.


And your argument about punches not being relevant to anything said before or after is voided out by the fact you've most likely never watched a freestyle battle so you wouldn't realize that a lot of what is said actually fits together or is in response to what is going on at that moment in time.