Audio: Big Daddy Kane Explains Freestyle
Taken from an interview BDK did, along with dozens of other legends, for the book “How To Rap: The Art & Science of the Hip-Hop MC”.. which is more of a required history lesson than a how-to for dummies.
BDK tells the author that in the golden age, a freestyle was a rhyme you wrote. It was “free” of “style” in the sense of subject matter. As in not a story about a girl, poverty, etc. Off the dome freestyles we’re just playing around on the corner to see who’d mess up first. He also says when you look at the greatest lyricists, they wrote their rhymes.
He doesn’t address rappers using the instrumental-of-the-month and calling it a freestyle. Which seems to bother some people, but not me. It’s definitely not the first word to have changed meaning throughout history.
March 19th, 2010 at 1:47 pm
Jay-Z debate in 5,4,3,2…
March 19th, 2010 at 1:51 pm
whachu mean? maybe i had it fucked up as well but like you said you didn’t see prior comments and just went in. no harm no foul.
^
kev thought “Precious” was the prequel to Lord of the Rings
March 19th, 2010 at 1:51 pm
Dre Says:
March 19th, 2010 at 1:47 pm
Jay-Z debate in 5,4,3,2…
^
who that Mason?
March 19th, 2010 at 1:52 pm
we need a board on what literary crying in response to comments look like. cause if we go by what happened between ike and rj in the last thread that means a lotta mahfukas on here have cried.
March 19th, 2010 at 1:53 pm
and besides…
whats wrong with being compared to Smokey Robinson?…
he’s an african amercian music Icon…
March 19th, 2010 at 1:54 pm
lotta mahfukas on here have cried.
——–
true…
March 19th, 2010 at 1:54 pm
I cry all the time
March 19th, 2010 at 1:55 pm
Interesting perspective, I guess BDK would know better than anyone. But when I was coming up “freestyle” meant off the top of the dome (ll).Now, if it was a on a mixtape, granted it was written, but not cyphers. Guess it’s a regional thing in some respects.
March 19th, 2010 at 1:55 pm
*cries*
March 19th, 2010 at 1:56 pm
means a lotta mahfukas on here have cried.
^^
Beezy’s bitch ass being foremost among them.
March 19th, 2010 at 1:56 pm
What time si that show today Brian?
March 19th, 2010 at 1:56 pm
seriously Kevin… not so much that ike cried… its just that we go wack back no homo with this shit, and he should have known better than to think i was taking direct shots at him… i clearly typed in plural…
March 19th, 2010 at 1:57 pm
What time si that show today Brian?
^^
It’s not till the 9th.
March 19th, 2010 at 1:57 pm
he’s an african amercian music Icon
^ I see what you did there.
March 19th, 2010 at 1:57 pm
i cried when DBillz called me a simp for defending Amanda Diva… i just logged off first so no one would see the tracks of my tears …
March 19th, 2010 at 1:58 pm
I remember back in 2nd grade, the last year before the computer report cards when teachers
actually wrote them out, a kid in our class changed an F to an A by adding a line on the F. Didn’t work: besides having a boxy A, he used a different color pen and didn’t change the 47 that he had next to it.
His dad came to school, took his belt off in the classroom, and started whooping him on the spot.
“Bathroom break everyone,” said the teacher.
Years later, I was telling my AP psych teacher the story, no names, because we were talking about the effects of corporal punishment. She thought it was so funny, she told it to the next student that walked in the room.
“That was me,” he said when she finished the story. I apologized through the laughter…I told him I didn’t use any names and he unnecessarily snitched on himself.
March 19th, 2010 at 1:59 pm
i clearly typed in plural…
^ *sleeps with tribes mom*
March 19th, 2010 at 1:59 pm
It’s not till the 9th.
^
Of next month? Why the fuck did i think it was tonight….lolol you must of been like wtf is this nigga talking about that he has to chill with a shorty tomorrow…
March 19th, 2010 at 1:59 pm
no one would see the tracks of my tears …
^^
And I see what you did there.
March 19th, 2010 at 1:59 pm
coulda swore i just gave $5 to Beezy on my way back to the office… lil short dude with a t-shirt saying Huggies
March 19th, 2010 at 2:00 pm
straight up…
smokey had classics yo…
whats fucking with “Baby Baby Dont Cry” or “Special Occasion” or “Second That Emotion”?…
sweartogod
March 19th, 2010 at 2:00 pm
ODEMIC do you know Mike Holmes. And why do you pronounce about as aboat?
March 19th, 2010 at 2:00 pm
i cried when i read and wasn’t apart of the last “i cried when…” threads.
them shits were epic.
March 19th, 2010 at 2:01 pm
….lolol you must of been like wtf is this nigga talking about that he has to chill with a shorty tomorrow…
^^
I was more like “why is this nigga making plans to chill with a broad 3 weeks in advance? Fucking weirdo.” lol
March 19th, 2010 at 2:01 pm
nigga hungry right about now.
March 19th, 2010 at 2:01 pm
In kindergarten they called my mother because they found me taking a shit in the bathroom naked perched up on the toilet like a frog.
March 19th, 2010 at 2:02 pm
No doubt, Smokey is/was that nigga.
He did the commencement at my graduation. I was half expecting him to break into “Quiet Storm” halfway thru the speech, but alas, no dice.
March 19th, 2010 at 2:03 pm
Off the dome freestyles allow you to say shit like the “the F is for Phenomenal”
March 19th, 2010 at 2:03 pm
*william smokey robinsons it up*
it hurt me..
cause i thought DBillz would share my stance in defending our sister against the barrage of racially and sexually perverse commentary directed at my Amanda …
SMH…i never felt so alone on a blog before no homo …
March 19th, 2010 at 2:03 pm
Damn, d_block, you were one those kids? I remember a kid took a dump in the urinal in 2nd grade. Like, what the fuck was going on in this kid’s household?
March 19th, 2010 at 2:03 pm
In kindergarten they called my mother because they found me taking a shit in the bathroom naked perched up on the toilet like a frog.
^ Ohh kaaaaay.
*backs out room mad slow*
March 19th, 2010 at 2:03 pm
its just that we go wack back no homo with this shit,
^
ok you meant to say ‘way back’ but since you flubbed then that cancels the no homo so…..
ayo.
March 19th, 2010 at 2:04 pm
If it was any other woman, Billz mightve backed you up (ll), but he and the Diva are arch enemies.
March 19th, 2010 at 2:05 pm
ROFFLE
Ease
Yo, when i was a kid, i used to strip to take a shit…oh and i was afraid of falling in the toilet so i used to climb up like a frog…
ROFFLE
March 19th, 2010 at 2:05 pm
I cried when Sean Coonery said my head (n) was the size of a planet.
March 19th, 2010 at 2:06 pm
Beezy was the first to admittedly announce he misses another commenter. think it was b-ease. smh.
March 19th, 2010 at 2:06 pm
its just that we go wack back no homo with this shit,
^
ok you meant to say ‘way back’ but since you flubbed then that cancels the no homo so…..
ayo.
—–
wtf?… how i miss that?… i have never “wacked back” with a nigga… no homo …
March 19th, 2010 at 2:07 pm
they found me taking a shit in the bathroom naked perched up on the toilet like a frog.
^
this PR la rana lookin ass boi. lololol
March 19th, 2010 at 2:07 pm
Oh and my pops beat the shit out of me too….good times
March 19th, 2010 at 2:08 pm
wtf?… how i miss that?… i have never “wacked back” with a nigga… no homo …
^
loooooooooooooooool.
March 19th, 2010 at 2:08 pm
Don’t know why I randomly remembered that.
^ roffle this is nah that land of randomness that why we love thee
PS I hope cats aren’t still ashame if they eat the vajajjay I mean how you gon think yourself a great lova if you don’t fully know how to please a woman?
March 19th, 2010 at 2:08 pm
I have to come into the office on Sunday…I’m siked…
March 19th, 2010 at 2:09 pm
blahk duppy Says:
March 19th, 2010 at 2:00 pm
ODEMIC do you know Mike Holmes. And why do you pronounce about as aboat?
^
What’chu talking bout duppy?
March 19th, 2010 at 2:10 pm
I hope cats aren’t still ashame if they eat the vajajjay
^
Only Rigz and Bloke.
March 19th, 2010 at 2:10 pm
It was all good till Smokey Robinson started hawking subpar foods:
flickr.com/photos/groovymother/289661585/
March 19th, 2010 at 2:11 pm
Ifux was the first to say another man was handsome
rick fox looked stellar (c) ifux.
March 19th, 2010 at 2:11 pm
without big daddy kane !
aint no njigga !
right !
March 19th, 2010 at 2:12 pm
Zee! Says:
It was all good till Smokey Robinson started freebasing away all his millions in songwriting royalties
*fixed*
March 19th, 2010 at 2:13 pm
Ifux was the first to say another man was handsome
^
lol. i remember fux saying he seen reggie bush in person and being impressed by the size of his arms. nahkis were wyle w/it when i landed here in ’08.
March 19th, 2010 at 2:14 pm
Freestyle=Off The Dome(II)
March 19th, 2010 at 2:15 pm
D_Block_4_Life Says:
March 19th, 2010 at 2:10 pm
I hope cats aren’t still ashame if they eat the vajajjay
^
Only Rigz and Bloke.
^
the fuck is vajajjay tho? Don’t let Oprah win…
March 19th, 2010 at 2:16 pm
In kindergarten I dropped trou’ in the front of the class and took a pee pee in the waste basket next to the teachers desk. lil meat was exposed for a while, little girls giggling. one kid told on me and my private school was allowed to spank kids with parental consent so a niggas buns got lit up properly by the principal afterwards. I don’t know what possessed me to do it but it clearly wasn’t worth the agony.
March 19th, 2010 at 2:16 pm
peace
March 19th, 2010 at 2:17 pm
wtf?… how i miss that?… i have never “wacked back” with a nigga… no homo …
^^
lol
March 19th, 2010 at 2:17 pm
what if Big L never died, yo?
*lights blunt*
March 19th, 2010 at 2:17 pm
Nah BBQ = Sausage Fest
No gracias. I see why Eskay been delaying it.
March 19th, 2010 at 2:18 pm
Freestyle=Off The Dome(II)
^^^^^^^^^^
im sayin…..
niggas act like u cant tell when shit is written or at least pre meditated
March 19th, 2010 at 2:19 pm
the fuck is vajajjay tho? Don’t let Oprah win…
^ Lol I think I got that from SuperBad or something
March 19th, 2010 at 2:20 pm
Speaking of subpar celeb food. Bo Jackson’s Sweet Potato Pies >
March 19th, 2010 at 2:21 pm
what if Big L never died, yo?
*lights blunt*
^^^^^^^^^^^^
niggas wouldnt be able to recycle already used rhymes like they really brand new. (see: Lil Wayne)
March 19th, 2010 at 2:22 pm
KANE!
March 19th, 2010 at 2:22 pm
See, Collin knows..
March 19th, 2010 at 2:23 pm
*bookmarks post*
March 19th, 2010 at 2:23 pm
so a niggas buns got lit up properly by the principal afterwards.
^ *죽은*
March 19th, 2010 at 2:24 pm
yo odemic, its amazing how ya moms having survived throat cancer still tops a nigga off thru her tracheostomy. bless her soul. sometimes we’d 69 and she’d tea bag me at the same time.
March 19th, 2010 at 2:24 pm
Last Thread made great reading. I think imma write a screen play with characters based of you nahggers… including the stories y’all have told.
Watch that shit be a blockbuster.
March 29th, 2010 at 2:08 pm
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April 8th, 2010 at 4:49 pm
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