The Beauty of The Freestyle

Hip Hop, and most music in fact, is centered around rhyme. Rhyme is defined as the writing or uttering of words that have corresponding sounds to them usually at the end of lines in poetry. If you are of the mind that Hip Hop isn't poetry, then I'm afraid you're woefully ignorant of the amount of rhyme, alliteration, rhythm, assonance and so many other poetic devices that rappers use in every song.

But today is not meant to be a discussion of written rhymes, but rather the unwritten ones. The ones that reflect a rapper's soul.

Freestyle Verse Vs. Off The Dome Freestyle

There's a distinction that must be made first and foremost, not all "freestyle" is thought up, there are two definitions of it in the hip hop world. A freestyle song or verse can just be a song with no hook, and/or no tied themes connecting the lines together. It's just rapping for rapping's sake. The XXL Freshman Cyphers for years have received widespread social media attention for either panicked off the dome verses, or amazing pre-written freestyles.

One of the most recognizable cyphers in recent memory. The verses are either clowned, respected or a sign of the times, depending on who you ask. And this divisiveness is what makes it an art.