The Death of Freestyle Rapping

They say that Freestyle rapping is to spit lyrics which are improvised, as in no pre- written lines all off the top of the head. Then there are rap battles which I have decided is mostly, if not all, pre-writtens.

While listening to someone, reading words off a mental list may seem like a swell time to some of you, but to me it sounds like bullshit. Where is the skill in pre writing a battle? Where is the showmanship of pointing out items in the crowd and on your opponent? Where has it gone, oh for the love of soulja boy, where has it gone.

There are those who would say Real Hip Hop lives so far underground that the devil bumps Mac Dre, but I say Real Hip Hop lives on the net. People hate on Internet rappers but those rappers are the one's giving you real freestyles on their promo tours.

When I see a rapper like Drake, who seems to have spit, reading off of a blackberry to do his thing at hot 97, I get nervous. Seriously what the hell is going on in the world? Have some respect for yourself and go in.



So who does of did really spit? Well, Let's start with my vote for the greatest Supernatural, who freestyled for over 9 hours, setting the new Guinness World Record. He is known for simple, easy to understand rhyming style in which he trades on content for expediency. His battles with Craig G and M.C. Juice are the stuff that legends are made of.





Then we can throw Eminem in the mix. Eminem came up as a battle rapper way before he ever started doing goofy songs and semi-singing hooks. His battles with Juice, Whitey Ford, and Everlast are some of the funniest and "real" freestyles that I have seen.




This list can of course go on for a while Canibus, KRS, Jay-Z, Papoose, Cassidy (Although allot of his shit is pre-written) Jin, Big L and the list goes on and on. Point is there used to be allot of real words being thrown around. Where has it gone and will it come back?










To be fair, websites like www.grindtimenow.com are trying to bring the "spit" back but sadly allot of written here also.





At the end of the day it can be a beautiful again. Lets seem some creativity, some crowd involvement, and some real spit.