Debating the Definition of “Freestyle” in the Digital Age

Since my most recent "Fails of the Week" essentially turned into a debate regarding the meaning of the word "freestyle", I thought I'd devote an entire post to the topic. Like a lot of old school terms that have carried over into the digital age - "mixtapes" are almost never mixed and never on tape anymore - there's a lot of grey area here. I don't think there are any right answers. But just like we stopped referring calling them "horseless carriages" and started calling them cars, it's well past time we came up with some new terms. Let's get started.

The Indisputable Freestyle / The "Off the Dome" Freestyle


No real debate here. A "freestyle" in the purest sense of the word involves making up rhymes on the spot. Even the best freestylers rely on previously written rhymes to bridge the gap between purely new lines, but in order to qualify as a "Off the Dome" freestyle there has to be multiple references to people/the environment that couldn't have possibly been written down ahead of time.

Rappers Indisputably Freestyling are becoming increasingly rare, but there are still some keeping the art form alive, most notably Supernatural.

The Pre-Written Freestyle


Now we're moving into some dicier territory. While it may seem like a contradiction in terms, upon further reflection I'm willing to include pre-written verse (a verse which includes no reference to the current environment) under the "freestyle" umbrella provided that there's some element of spontaneity and liveness - which I think is the heart of the "freestyle". If a rapper can go in without a beat, on demand, without slipping and make you feel their rhymes, you deserve some props.

The Pre-Written Blackberry Freestyle


Lord knows he's not the only one, but this is also known as the "Drake Freestyle", and the line at which I'm no longer willing to call it a "freestyle". If you have to tie yourself to a phone/notepad etc. in order to rhyme than there's no longer any element of "freedom", you're officially just plain old rapping. Nothing wrong with that, most of my favorite raps are...um....plain old raps....but we need a new term for this.

Actually, fuck that. We don't need a new term for this. As I said above, we already have a term for it - rapping.

(p.s. - The hilarious part about that Drake not-a-freestyle above is that he had to write down, "Drizzy Drake, uh / Funk Flex, uh."

The Rapping Over Other People's Beats Freestyle


Now here's where we really, really need a new term. I guess it's "free" in the sense that you're rhyming for free over a beat the original rapper paid for, but if you get an instrumental, write to it, book a studio, step into that studio, do multiple takes, records punches and doubles then shoot a video, that's the exact fucking opposite of a 'freestyle" in every sense of the word. You're now just a rapper whose rapping over someone's beat - nothing wrong with that as long as long as your version is dope, but I can't can't abide by calling these freestyles.

What about getting back to calling them remixes? Doesn't that word essentially mean "a different rapper spitting over the beat that was originally intended"? Isn't that exactly what these are? Or have I opened up an entirely new can of proverbial worms?

Alright people, as Ghandi said (although he was talking about way more important stuff), we need to be the change we want to see in the world, so let's not leave this page until we've hot this shit sorted out. Any "freestyle" categories besides the four above that I mentioned? Suggestions for new terms?