Freestyle: The Art Of Rhyme

The definitive, comprehensive documentary about rap music's three-decade history remains to be made, but a number of good films examine different parts of the story. Where 2001's SCRATCH focused on "turntablism" and the art of the DJ, Kevin Fitzgerald's brief but engaging documentary takes a look at those who do the actual rapping — the MCs. Fitzgerald's particular interest is the extemporaneous, off-the-top-of-the-head form of rapping known as "freestyling." Unlike written raps, freestyle is strictly improvisational; raps are created on the spur-of-the-moment by fast-thinking MCs who, like the Jamaican toasters of old, can match their spontaneous rhymes to the rhyth...