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Freestyle: The Art Of Rhyme

2004, Movie, NR, 80 mins

Freestyle: The Art Of Rhyme: Review

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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 rhythms of a DJ, a human beat-box or the tempos breaking in their own heads. After a cursory history Jamaican DJ Kool Herc's introduction of freestyle toasting to the South Bronx, which he adapted to the sounds of funky soul and r 'n' b, basically inventing rap in the process, the film turns to freestyle's resurgence in early '90s, when underground hip-hop sought to reconnect a commercially corrupted subculture to its spiritual roots. Fitzgerald interviews a number of renowned freestylers on both coasts, including New York City's Supernatural (who routinely studies the Complete Rhyming Dictionary to hone his skills) and his arch nemesis, Craig G; their on-stage "battle" at a music seminar is one of the film's many highlights. These MCs also explain the all-important concept of the "cipher," the circle of freestyling rappers who, accompanied by a human-beat box and surrounded by spectators, fire raps back and forth like an electrical circuit. This is rap in its rawest form, the place where, as one MC puts it, "hip hop all begins." With the help of archival footage, Fitzgerald explores connections between freestyle rap and earlier African-American art forms, from the spoken word verses of the Last Poets to John Coltrane's be-bop improvisations. Most interestingly, Fitzgerald makes an exciting connection between non-conceptual rapping and the sermons of Baptist preachers, in which the meaning of words takes a back seat to the seductive cadences and rhythms of speech. Begun over seven years ago and described by the filmmaker as a work-in-progress, this documentary feels incomplete. That may be because its subject is part of a much larger story, or simply because the history is still being made. leave a comment --Ken Fox
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