Freestyling vs. Writing

Dragonfuel · 12-09-2010, 12:39 PM

Who writes better songs? Freestylers? or Just Writers?
Blue corner Says Freestyling is useless skill that would "jus be a cool aspect of ur game"!!
Red Corner Says a good Writer is a essentially a good Freestyler its just making the connection from brain to mouth!
What do you all think!?

Phantom Limb · 12-09-2010, 02:12 PM

I think that it's really cool to be able to freestyle well, but the most awesome stuff is written. You can't freestyle with as much depth because you simply can't think up stuff that fast. However, you do have to take into account the performers art. Freestyling is somewhat like an improvisational jazz solo as it allows the the individual to to express exactly what they are feeling at that moment in time. But whatever, I'd rather listen to people who have their stuff planned out.

Written- 1
Freestyle- 0

SATCHMO · 12-09-2010, 03:07 PM

Freestyling is a skill. It's also a practice tool by which you can develop your rhythm and vocal delivery. Sure, it also develops your ability to think on your feet, but that only really comes in handy when you're... freestyling.

I see a lot of emcees, especially novices that focus almost exclusively on writing, but when it comes to delivery it's ends up being all off. I also see a lot of emcees who can aesthetically deliver, but really have not much to say. Surprisingly, I prefer the latter. That's probably why I continue to defend Weezy.

People neglect that, even in hip hop, the voice is an instrument and there should be some soul and swagger to it. It's not all tongue twisters on a breakbeat. You can't judge everything on lyrical dexterity. That's the equivalent of judging a guitarist on how fast they play. The best emcees show a balance between the ability to write and to deliver really well vocally, so I believe that both are equally important and both take time to develop.

~~Dirty~~ · 12-09-2010, 03:20 PM

Tough question because I don't think there's really any guys out there who JUST freestyle... I rap for fun, and I learned the best ways to come up with rhymes and different flows and learning where to rhyme within the beat is to just freestyle. I worked in a huge ice cream freezer (think a warehouse at -20 degrees with hundreds of 5-gallon tubs of ice cream) and I would just freestyle rhyme the entire work shift to take my mind off the cold and make it more fun. Half the lines wouldn't even make sense, but I'd come up with some really creative stuff and then use some of it when i began writing. I look at freestyling like a practice method for when you write your rhymes. Helps out with your flow so much I think.

SATCHMO · 12-09-2010, 03:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dirty

Tough question because I don't think there's really any guys out there who JUST freestyles... I rap for fun, and I learned the best ways to come up with rhymes and different flows and learning where to rhyme within the beat is to just freestyle. I worked in a huge ice cream freezer (think a warehouse at -20 degrees with hundreds of 5-gallon tubs of ice cream) and I would just freestyle rhyme the entire work shift to take my mind off the cold and make it more fun. Half the lines wouldn't even make sense, but I'd come up with some really creative stuff and then use some of it when i began writing. I look at freestyling like a practice method for when you write your rhymes. Helps out with your flow so much I think.

Exactly

~~someonecompletelyrandom~~ · 12-09-2010, 04:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SATCHMO

People neglect that, even in hip hop, the voice is an instrument and there should be some soul and swagger to it. It's not all tongue twisters on a breakbeat. You can't judge everything on lyrical dexterity. That's the equivalent of judging a guitarist on how fast they play. The best emcees show a balance between the ability to write and to deliver really well vocally, so I believe that both are equally important and both take time to develop.

This.

Dragonfuel · 12-09-2010, 05:03 PM

I agree I like the Freestyling more.
I had a Conversation about this with a friend who completely says that freestyling is useless and I just couldn't understand how he would think that accurate expression of what they feel at that moment.
I understand why people like prepared stuff better but that's only if your thinking in extremes of either you do one or the other. I think freestyling is alot about the performance and delivery. That's what makes the feeling more convincing. More Expression then Calculation.
It seems to be 2 different skill sets that compliment each other.

clutnuckle · 12-09-2010, 05:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by http://rateyourmusic.com/list/Cronus/jazz_essentials

The key element of Jazz is the Improvisation. If there's no improvisation at all then it's not jazz. The compositional part may vary from genre to genre, the improvisations may or may not have any restrains or rules, the instruments may vary from the acoustic conventionals (piano, sax, trumpet, drums, bass) to electronic or even home-made instruments; the music can be melodic or non-melodic; but of all the subgenres/styles of Jazz the only thing in common on all of them is that they all have the improvisation as their core of their music (although not all improvised music is necessary jazz).

Jazz is essentially the godfather of hip hop in a lot of stylistic ways, so I think the same thing can be applied. A lot of great aspects of hip-hop come right off of the top of the artist's head: using their immediate imagination to create something spontaneous and surprising. That's a lot like an improvised jazz solo, to me.

So I think of free-styling as necessary, though the structured, written approach is obviously just as important to actually being able to enjoy the music. Whether one outweighs the other, depends on the artist.

Bane of your existence · 12-10-2010, 04:10 PM

My boy Voss and I were having this conversation. Mostly about written battles vs purely freestyle. His take is that written battles are a new trend, and they're the future. Two emcees get a week or so to gather up dirt and write rhymes. This allows for cleaner and wittier lines. If you've ever been to a freestyle battle, there's a lot of repetition. People are trying to go off the cuff quick, so the tendency is to resort to an old favorite line or even biting to keep the flow. Sure, freestyling is the pure form of battling, but written shit makes for an awesome spectacle. I don't think that written battles could ever replace freestyling, but it's not an evil takeover of rap that some purists try and make it seem like it is.

Example of freestyle vs written with Voss:

Free:

Written:

Dragonfuel · 12-11-2010, 02:57 AM

I'm always hearing that writing sounds better then freestyling for the most part. Because you get a chance to fine tune. And like you said in freestyles lots off repetition occurs because people revert to what I like to call their fallbacks.
But My imagination makes me think of someone who is actually good enough at the freestyling that they have the timing and structure down well enough that you can essentially say they can freestyle to paper no edits needed.
Is that impossible or just difficult?
Wouldn't that be better then a weeks worth or research?
I think researching for freestyle battle is ridiculous.

12-09-2010, 12:39 PM	#1 (permalink)
Dragonfuel Groupie Join Date: Sep 2010 Posts: 4	Freestyling vs. Writing Who writes better songs? Freestylers? or Just Writers? Blue corner Says Freestyling is useless skill that would "jus be a cool aspect of ur game"!! Red Corner Says a good Writer is a essentially a good Freestyler its just making the connection from brain to mouth! What do you all think!?

12-09-2010, 02:12 PM	#2 (permalink)
Phantom Limb Chocolate Homunculus Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Minneapolis, MN Posts: 1,293	I think that it's really cool to be able to freestyle well, but the most awesome stuff is written. You can't freestyle with as much depth because you simply can't think up stuff that fast. However, you do have to take into account the performers art. Freestyling is somewhat like an improvisational jazz solo as it allows the the individual to to express exactly what they are feeling at that moment in time. But whatever, I'd rather listen to people who have their stuff planned out. Written- 1 Freestyle- 0

12-09-2010, 03:07 PM	#3 (permalink)
SATCHMO Al Dente Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Texas Posts: 4,708	Freestyling is a skill. It's also a practice tool by which you can develop your rhythm and vocal delivery. Sure, it also develops your ability to think on your feet, but that only really comes in handy when you're... freestyling. I see a lot of emcees, especially novices that focus almost exclusively on writing, but when it comes to delivery it's ends up being all off. I also see a lot of emcees who can aesthetically deliver, but really have not much to say. Surprisingly, I prefer the latter. That's probably why I continue to defend Weezy. People neglect that, even in hip hop, the voice is an instrument and there should be some soul and swagger to it. It's not all tongue twisters on a breakbeat. You can't judge everything on lyrical dexterity. That's the equivalent of judging a guitarist on how fast they play. The best emcees show a balance between the ability to write and to deliver really well vocally, so I believe that both are equally important and both take time to develop.

12-09-2010, 03:20 PM	#4 (permalink)
~~Dirty~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: USA Posts: 981	Tough question because I don't think there's really any guys out there who JUST freestyle... I rap for fun, and I learned the best ways to come up with rhymes and different flows and learning where to rhyme within the beat is to just freestyle. I worked in a huge ice cream freezer (think a warehouse at -20 degrees with hundreds of 5-gallon tubs of ice cream) and I would just freestyle rhyme the entire work shift to take my mind off the cold and make it more fun. Half the lines wouldn't even make sense, but I'd come up with some really creative stuff and then use some of it when i began writing. I look at freestyling like a practice method for when you write your rhymes. Helps out with your flow so much I think.

12-09-2010, 05:03 PM	#7 (permalink)
Dragonfuel Groupie Join Date: Sep 2010 Posts: 4	I agree I like the Freestyling more. I had a Conversation about this with a friend who completely says that freestyling is useless and I just couldn't understand how he would think that accurate expression of what they feel at that moment. I understand why people like prepared stuff better but that's only if your thinking in extremes of either you do one or the other. I think freestyling is alot about the performance and delivery. That's what makes the feeling more convincing. More Expression then Calculation. It seems to be 2 different skill sets that compliment each other.

12-10-2010, 04:10 PM	#9 (permalink)
Bane of your existence Such That Join Date: May 2007 Location: Austin, Tx Posts: 1,197	My boy Voss and I were having this conversation. Mostly about written battles vs purely freestyle. His take is that written battles are a new trend, and they're the future. Two emcees get a week or so to gather up dirt and write rhymes. This allows for cleaner and wittier lines. If you've ever been to a freestyle battle, there's a lot of repetition. People are trying to go off the cuff quick, so the tendency is to resort to an old favorite line or even biting to keep the flow. Sure, freestyling is the pure form of battling, but written shit makes for an awesome spectacle. I don't think that written battles could ever replace freestyling, but it's not an evil takeover of rap that some purists try and make it seem like it is. Example of freestyle vs written with Voss: Free: Written:

12-11-2010, 02:57 AM	#10 (permalink)
Dragonfuel Groupie Join Date: Sep 2010 Posts: 4	I'm always hearing that writing sounds better then freestyling for the most part. Because you get a chance to fine tune. And like you said in freestyles lots off repetition occurs because people revert to what I like to call their fallbacks. But My imagination makes me think of someone who is actually good enough at the freestyling that they have the timing and structure down well enough that you can essentially say they can freestyle to paper no edits needed. Is that impossible or just difficult? Wouldn't that be better then a weeks worth or research? I think researching for freestyle battle is ridiculous.