Freestyle Rap

Freestyle Rap

Freestyle is a style of rap, with instrumental beats, in which rap lyrics are improvised, i.e. performed with no previously composed lyrics, or "off the top of the head". It is similar to other improvisational music such as jazz – Myka 9 of Freestyle Fellowship describes it as being "like a jazz solo" where there is a lead saxophonist acting as the improviser and the rest of the band providing the beat. Rap battles are sometimes improvised in this way. It is similar in both form and function to the ancient practice of flyting.

Originally, in old school hip hop of the 1980s, the term "freestyle" referred to a pre-written rap verse that was not on any particular subject matter, but rather was written for the purpose of demonstrating skill. The term is still occasionally used in this way, though since the 1990s, the majority of today’s artists use it to mean improvised rapping.