copper prairie
I’ve learned to freestyle in cyphers, and I’ve done improv. Here’s my perspective.
I think they use the same muscle and promote the cognitive function of “thinking on your feet”. They both constitute of coming up with it as you go, and co-creation with other people. That’s my hot take.
What do you think, do you agree?
Also….
Do you freestyle/do improv? What do you like the most about it?
tulip escarp
improv is freeer cause you just have to be funny, there's less muscle memory and patterns involved.
i m o
plain scarab
Talk about late to the party.
I've always held the idea that comedy and rap are basically the same. You have to have a tempo to your performance, a unique factor, setups/punchlines and a cadence to the way you speak. As such, improv and freestyling follow the same principles.
If you're good at freestyling (and at least understand how to be funny) you can likely do well at improv. Just so long as you get on stage and don't start rhyming out of instinct lol.
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Being funny on stage is WAY harder than being funny in freestyles. Rap has the context of naturally being a serious artform, so when you hear someone come in and say something like "you remind me of that trainspotter on YouTube... Because you're a fucking annoying c*nt" like Shuffle-T did then you'll subvert the expectations of the audience and it can make you laugh. But in a comedy show you're expected to make someone laugh so you can't just subvert what they expect based solely on a preconceived expectation, you have to actually make a set-up where you think you know where it's going and then subvert it.
soft tangle
I fully agree. A freestyle is supposed to be off the dome. On the spot. Reason is because back when MCs were spitting on stage with a DJ every MC has a style that was unique to him. Whether it was telling the guy outside the party his lights were on in his car or trying to hype up the party; you knew where you were and who was on stage. Also a lot the bars on stage in the early years were pre-written and rehearsed. Hip Hop Crews were basically urban bands with no instruments.
So on the occasion you were caught on the street by a fan or another MC, or etc you needed to be able to just rhyme on the spot.
I think with the formation of Hip Hop and Rap as an art/genre we lost the actual meaning of freestyle. I hate seeing tracks from an artist that are labeled freestyle but you have very clear punch in and vocal production. Compared to seeing the MC on like WorldMC or Fire In The Booth or even The Cave with Kenny Beats, they are in the booth spiting off top. You can tell. Yes the track goes to Spotify and not everyone is able to do it well but it’s still what it is. A freestyle. Off the top.
lofty mist
I fully agree. A freestyle is supposed to be off the dome. On the spot. Reason i...
I fully agree. Their version of a freestyle is a written that hasn’t been recorded yet. Funny thing too, most rappers that are really good at freestyling aren’t very good at writing, and vice versa