Overview

From neighborhood ciphers to the most notorious MC battles, "Freestyle: the Art of Rhyme" captures the electrifying energy of improvisational hip-hop--the rarely recorded art form of rhyming spontaneously. Like preachers and jazz solos, freestyles exist only in the moment, a modern-day incarnation of the African-American storytelling tradition. Shot over a period of more than seven years, it is already an underground cult film in the hip-hop world. The film systematically debunks the false image put out by record companies that hip-hop culture is violent or money-obsessed. Instead, it lets real hip-hop artists, known and unknown, weave their story out of a passionate mix of language, politics, and spirituality.

Genres

Cast

Muhammad Ali

Himself

John Coltrane

Himself

Yasiin Bey

Himself

DJ Kool Herc

Debi Mazar

Herself (archive footage)

The Notorious B.I.G.

Tupac Shakur

Boots Riley

Himself

Bobbito Garcia

Himself