Freestyle - The Art of Rhyme

Starring:Freestyle: Art of Rhyme
Studio: Palm Pictures (Video
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Freestyle makes for the ideal double-bill with Scratch, Doug Pray's fine film about the art of the DJ. Kevin Fitzgerald looks instead at the MC, specifically those who make their rhymes up on the spot, like a slam poet or jazz vocalist adding new flavor to an old standard. Unlike Scratch or The Freshest Kids, an exploration of b-boy culture, Freestyle doesn't explain or trace the history of a form as much as celebrate it. In other words, the focus is more on the practitioners of the present, despite some valuable commentary from Abiodun Oyewole and Umar Bin Hassan of the legendary Last Poets, on circles and battles, and some inspiring footage of a 17-year-old Biggie Smalls (the Notorious B.I.G.) cutting loose in Bed-Stuy. Other notable participants include Common, Black Thought (the Roots) Chali Tuna (Jurassic 5), Mikah 9 (Freestyle Fellowship), and Mos Def (Black Star). --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Description

Documenting the history and art of freestyle rap, Freestyle features the greatest names in hip-hop… its underground heroes (Supernatural, Craig-G, Juice), the most critically acclaimed (The Roots, Jurasic-5, Mos Def), and mainstream icons (Notorious BIG, Tupac).

Customer Reviews:

Wasn't dat great.......2007-06-23

Diz dvd was alright not all dat great what realy saved it was scenes from blackthought from the roots rhymin about random thangz & the mosdef scene other then dat ? Freestyle was pretty boring. They focus 2 much on supernat insted of focusing on the better onez and why wasnt redman on this dvd ? The vets of this like some one said befo kool k, tribe,REDMAN,kurupt, krs etc... Supernat is brilliant at wut he doez, dont get me wrong but he's not the best. Watch rhyme & reason , the mc, and scratch for better hip hop documentaries. The bahamadia scene & medusa scene were tight doe.

Freestyle The Art of Rhyme.......2007-03-11

This is a great DVD. A must for any true Hip-Hop lovers!

A Hip-Hop Must Have.......2006-03-27

Most true lovers of hip-hop agree on some 'must have' albums for their collection to be considered complete (i.e. Illmatic, Ready 2 Die, Criminal Minded, The Cronic, Reasonable Doubt etc. etc.) The same holds true for this particular documentary--Freestyle-The Art of Rhyme. This movie does an amazing job explaining and depicting the at times neglected form of rap called freestyling--which many argue is the true measure of any true emcee. So if you are a real fan of hip-hop culture--you should definitely own at least one copy of this video. Remember--ain't nothin' like hip-hop music. Peace.
~A-jacks

There is a good reason why this documentary won so many awards.......2005-10-21

One of the things about this documentary, that separates it from any that I have seen, is that it acknowledges that Hip Hop is just another extention of the artistic expression of African people in the United States. This is best stated by Eluard Burt II in the first minutes of the documentary by saying "Rap is just a stem, a part of the branch, of what we are all about..." The Oral Tradition and the use of the word is a part of the historical legacy of African people. With the commericialization of the artform, far too many are learning the culture from corporations rather than from the culprits.

Hip Hop came from the streets. The record companies created rap. What this documentary does is goes back to the streets and finds those unknown artist who aren't doing this for money, but for the love. They capture some of the energy that has brought many people through the oppressive conditions of the inner cities of America. That is the purest expression that you can get.

Though the documentary focuses on freestyling, it also explains briefly how it all started with DJ Kool Herc. Any Hip Hop documentary that doesn't address Herc, is incomplete. Being a native New Yorker, I lived the birth of the artform and watched how the originators of the this multi billion dollar industry don't even get paid... attention.

There is no way you can do a documentary about freestyling without including Supernatural and Craig G. They were without question, two of the best freestylers of all time and could hold their own now (Graig G wrote the battle rhymes for Eminiem's opponents in 8 Mile). Their Battle is nothing short of monumental. That is the Ali vs Frazier of hip hop.

What I appreciate is that he goes from east coast to west coast and addresses how both coast contributed to each others growth. Something rarely mentioned. Unfortunately this has been tainted by the media's creation of the east west coast beef.

What I didn't expect was that it it bypasses the violence that is too often associated with Hip Hop. Because in all honesty, the glorification of violence is tied to "rap" and record sales. Not the culture of Hip Hop. What you hear in most of the freestyles is social commentary, intellectual wordplay, storytelling, braggadocia, etc... the basis of what hip hop use to be.

All in all, this is a great illustration of what hip hop was and still is, but is often unseen and unheard. If your addicted to radio, MTV, BET, ETC... just understand, this isn't about the polished studio artist. If your not, this may be just what you have been waiting for. Something Raw. 4.5 Stars

2.5 Stars. Not What You Expect........2005-06-08

The Award winning documentary Freestyle, looks like something fresh, creative, and new from the exterior. I was psyched to purchase this DVD the minute I heard about it.

What a let down!

First of all, How did Freestyle achieve all of the acclaim and all of these film festival awards, Secondly who picked it as a winner? Probably some cornball who isn't familiar with the culture or good off the dome MCing?
This documentary tries really hard to connect to the audience and present the validity of rhyming off the dome but falls completely flat. The film isn't balanced enough to a certain degree. What you basically have is nothing more than a bunch of tree huggin backpackers spitting nothing but junk and 10 syllable words off the top of their heads for a majority of the film. Don't get me wrong there are some credible scenes in Freestyle with Mos Def, Biggie, Black Thought, J.U.I.C.E, and the Last Poets....but not enough. Freestyle tries to come off as some profound documentary but sheds very little light to the subject and the questions that many Hip-Hop heads have asked for years. Why wasn't the current trend of fake freestyles (writtens coming off as freestyles) addressed more? Why weren't more credible MC's exposed and quality underground MC's presented? Why is there a section entitled "written/freestyles", what kind of oxymoron is that? It makes no sense. Why is there a section on Freestyle DJing??? What???!!!? Isn't that called turntabalism??? It seems as if they're fishing for more topics that ultimately don't have much of a direct relation to rhyming off the top. Is there a freestyle graffiti section too???
Freestlye continuously fails and derails itself off track from the key subject, the art of freestyling. At times it tries to be a Hip Hop 101 DVD. Most of the people who will be purchasing the DVD are already familiar with Hip Hop's roots in the South Bronx. Where is the quality freestyling at? Ultimately, "Freestyle" is over-saturated with un-proven, extremely weak, amateur MC's who need to focus more on spitting quality off the dome freestyles.
They cover Supernatural's sorry a$$ for almost half of the entire DVD, which is very unfortunate. I admire his creativity, but he sounds terrible. It's no wonder why he can't get signed. He thinks his doo-doo doesn't stink, because he's studied the dictionary to help expand his vocabulary for freestyling, but yet he can't take the time to concentrate on getting out of the broom closet that he lives in.
I thought that this film could have benefited from more footage of proven vets who can truly freestyle such as Kool Keith, Tribe, Big Daddy Kane, KRS-1, Snoop, Kurrupt, Common, Safir, Likwit Crew, Redman, or anyone from Hieroglyphics. These aforementioned artists can "really" freestyle. That would have faired much better than watching these tofu eatin, incense burnin, soy milk drinkin, poetry night geeks struggle to put words together. The Eminem rap Olympics footage from 1997 would have been great too.
Ultimately, if you are somewhat/vaguely familiar with Hip-Hop culture or a new fan of the underground scene, then you will love Freestyle.
If you consider your self a long-time fan of Hip Hop culture and familiar with the topic of freestyle rhyming then you will be somewhat disappointed, just like I was.
If you want a quality Hip Hop DVD purchase check out "The MC", "Scratch" or "Hip Hop Immortals" take my word for it. I'm rating this with 2.5 stars mainly for the rare footage of artists such as Kool Moe Dee, Bahamadia, Biggie Smalls, The Roots, Craig G, and Kool Herc

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