Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme (2000)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Kevin Fitzgerald

Genre:

Documentary | Music

Plot:

A documentary about freestyling--the improvised, on-the-spot rhymes that demonstrate the skills of hip-hop MCs.

Plot Keywords:

Hip Hop | Underground | Battle | Competition | Rap

Awards:

4 wins

Cast

Muhammad Ali	...	Himself (archive footage)
Planet Asia	...	Himself
Bahamadia	...	Herself
The Notorious B.I.G.	...	Himself (archive footage)
Boots	...	Himself (as Boots Riley)
Akim Funk Buddah	...	Himself
Eluard Burt	...	Himself
Myo Campbell	...	Himself
John Coltrane	...	Himself (archive footage)
Darkleaf	...	Himself
Mos Def	...	Himself
Kirby Dominant	...	Himself
Eminem	...	Himself (archive footage)
Freestyle Fellowship	...	Themselves
Lord Finesse	...	Himself
Kevin Fitzgerald	...	Himself (voice)
Richard Fox
Robert Garcia	...	Himself (as Bobbito)
Craig G	...	Himself
Kool Herc	...	Himself (archive footage)
Juice	...	Himself
Jurassic 5	...	Themselves (archive footage)
Ghostface Killah	...	Himself
Talib Kweli	...	Himself
The Last Poets	...	Themselves
Crazy Legs	...	Himself
Living Legends	...	Themselves
The Lyricist Lounge	...	Themselves
Lucas MacFadden	...	Himself (as Cut Chemist)
Debi Mazar	...	Herself (archive footage)
Darryl McDaniels	...	Himself (archive footage)
Medusa	...	Herself
Kool Moe Dee	...	Himself (archive footage)
Pharoahe Monch	...	Himself
Otherwize	...	Himself
Tupac Shakur	...	Himself (archive footage)
Joseph Simmons	...	Himself (archive footage)
Charles Stewart	...	Himself (as Chali 2na)
Divine Styler	...	Himself
Tragedy Styles	...	Background Music
Supernatural	...	Himself
Sway	...	Himself
Ahmir-Khalib Thompson	...	Himself (as ?uestlove)
Tariq Trotter	...	Himself (as Black Thought)
Wordsworth	...	Himself

Also Known As:

Freestyle (USA) (short title)
VH1 News Presents: Freestyle - The Story of Underground Hip Hop (USA) (TV title)

Runtime:

60 min | 74 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Certification:

Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Bowery Films

Movie Connections:

Features Wild Style (1983)

Promising but lacking depth

This documentary had so much to offer. Unfortunately, it didn't push forward and deliver what it could have. Hip hop heads will leave this film knowing a few more names or stories about underground hip hop but the history lesson ends there.

Documentaries, for the most part, are made to expose a niche. To show others its esoteric quality. While Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme begins to scratch at the surface, it barely leaves a mark. The history of hip hop and its origins in the Bronx are passed over as though everyone in the audience were a hip hop connaisseur. The other aspects of hip hop (graffiti, break dancing and DJing) are mentioned in passing as though it had no correlation to Freestyling.

The Art of Rhyme is simply a fan's video of favourite MCs and friends freestyling and battling in the streets. The psychology of freestyle rhyme, of battles and its roots (some historians date it back to the days of slavery) are muted by the redundant scenes of freestyle artists rhyming for the camera, hoping for exposure.

While showing actual freestyling is essential for the film, too much of it just dilutes the artistic and historically-significant aspect of Hip Hop. Most importantly, its lack of depth confirms what narrow-minded critics have said for years about Hip Hop music and its generation.