talk to me.

what's your process?
what do you think about?
what do you hear?
what are you aware of?
what do you remember when it's over?
how often do you rely on rhymes that you know well and recycle?

Any tips you would share?

I want to share my thoughts on this with any one who's really into the art of it.
I've been freestylling for 3 years and making a living off it.
i live in brisbane, australia and i want travel the world with it.
and i have no doubt there are some freestyle beasts lurking this forum and i'd love to hear from you and learn from and improve : )

The less I am thinking about what I am saying and the more I am just reacting and interacting, the better the freestyle.

Also, the more you write, the better you freestyle, and vice versa. Freestyling is essentially the writing process sped way up. You should be able to think of where you want to go, how that ends, what choices you have that rhyme with it, pick the best, least predictable one, start with that, work your way to the next line...

It really is an intense mental process.

Here's me off the dome at a cypher at Boston University.

Peace.

>The less I am thinking about what I am saying and the more I
>am just reacting and interacting, the better the freestyle.
>
>Also, the more you write, the better you freestyle, and vice
>versa. Freestyling is essentially the writing process sped way
>up. You should be able to think of where you want to go, how
>that ends, what choices you have that rhyme with it, pick the
>best, least predictable one, start with that, work your way to
>the next line...
>
>It really is an intense mental process.
>
>Here's me off the dome at a cypher at Boston University.
>
>Peace.

>The less I am thinking about what I am saying and the more I
>am just reacting and interacting, the better the freestyle.
>
>Also, the more you write, the better you freestyle, and vice
>versa. Freestyling is essentially the writing process sped way
>up. You should be able to think of where you want to go, how
>that ends, what choices you have that rhyme with it, pick the
>best, least predictable one, start with that, work your way to
>the next line...
>
>It really is an intense mental process.
>
>Here's me off the dome at a cypher at Boston University.
>
>Peace.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4haSrYyZbI

this is dope and raw and i love it.

i feel like the way i do it, is a little more gimmicky.
word play and just constantly picking out things people are doing in saying to just keep proving that it's all freestyle.

but this was more stream of consciousness, and you were getting your catalyst from within i guess.

i've been trying to expand and do this more.
i've made it viable out of the interaction with people though!
so for me it's a balancing act of engage them and make it about them, but then just throwing things about me and my thoughts and feelings in there too.
but always coming back to something that connects them to the story too.

i hope that makes. but yo... i like the rap.

i would love to come to cypher in the US one day!

did i hear that right?

"i was born lookin' like some male porn,
so hot, so sexy"

lol

hahahah yeah i busted out laughing at that one... definitely one dude would've wanted to take back

hahah... ok i watched dudes again. i missed that line of his completely on my first listen.


so at first i wasn't sure if you were asking about the line in the freestyle in MY signature.

cause there's a point at like 3m45s; where a car driving past beeps and yells out to me, and i said.

"i hear you hootin' and your hollering, beeping on your horn
that's it, i got you swallowing my shit, just like it's porn
i'm throwing it down right now, while i'm trying to keep you warm"

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/11/121115133154.htm

it's about what your brain is actually doing while you freestyle.

Basic exercises:

alliteration/alphabet - pick a letter and construct a freestyle using as many words beginning with that letter or letter sound as you can, while still being coherent

see-and-rhyme: the obvious. rhyme about everything you see around you. add levels of difficulty by trying to string them together into a narrative, turning objects into metaphors (e.g. a ruler can be described as a monarch, etc)

stream of consciousness - follow an idea to its absolute most absurd conclusion (the ruler, above, being a monarch, but really a monarch butterfly, ruling over an empire of caterpillars, which are actually Caterpillar tractors, which are part of an agricultural multinational corporation trying to take over global food production...or something like that)

Narrative - spontaneously creating stories and trying to add layers of depth as you go is a great skill-building tool. to add difficulty, tell the story out of temporal sequence and try to hold elements of the story in memory and return back to those hanging tangents, while maintaining a steady rhythm

all of these exercises should be done over the most challenging rhythmic patterns available. classical or free jazz are good standbys. stick to the rhythmic pattern as long as long as possible and keep pauses as short as possible. film yourself and review your performance.

rhyme everywhere.

that is all.

edit: I want to freestyle in Brisbane one day. If there are promoters paying people to freestyle over there, I will make it to that part of the world somehow.

Peace,

Spirit (Alan)
http://wutangbook.com

>Basic exercises:
>
>alliteration/alphabet - pick a letter and construct a
>freestyle using as many words beginning with that letter or
>letter sound as you can, while still being coherent
>
>see-and-rhyme: the obvious. rhyme about everything you see
>around you. add levels of difficulty by trying to string them
>together into a narrative, turning objects into metaphors
>(e.g. a ruler can be described as a monarch,
>etc)
>
>stream of consciousness - follow an idea to its absolute most
>absurd conclusion (the ruler, above, being a monarch, but
>really a monarch butterfly, ruling over an empire of
>caterpillars, which are actually Caterpillar tractors, which
>are part of an agricultural multinational corporation trying
>to take over global food production...or something like that)
>
>Narrative - spontaneously creating stories and trying to add
>layers of depth as you go is a great skill-building tool. to
>add difficulty, tell the story out of temporal sequence and
>try to hold elements of the story in memory and return back to
>those hanging tangents, while maintaining a steady rhythm
>
>all of these exercises should be done over the most
>challenging rhythmic patterns available. classical or free
>jazz are good standbys. stick to the rhythmic pattern as long
>as long as possible and keep pauses as short as possible. film
>yourself and review your performance.
>
>rhyme everywhere.
>
>that is all.
>
>edit: I want to freestyle in Brisbane one day. If there are
>promoters paying people to freestyle over there, I will make
>it to that part of the world somehow.
>
>Peace,
>
>Spirit (Alan)
>http://wutangbook.com

I've been doing some of this.

but i'm gonna chew on all of it and see what i can apply straight away.
i'll come back and let you know which parts helped the most!

thanks again!

into getting offered paid gigs.

I started as a percussionist. playing hip hop beats on cajon.
and was making a solid living off just that from the get go.
then i began to rap over the top of the beats, just to kid around really.
i loved rap, but never thought of myself as a rapper.
but i would drop a biggie verse or a will smith verse. just something people knew and could rap along to.

then one day i just freestyled and people dug it.
so i kept practicing and would do it every time i played.
until i was more focused on that then percussion.

after about 6 months rapping while playing cajon. i bought a loop pedal, guitar, amp and mic.
then started looping beats and learning well known songs to do acoustic covers of but instead of learning the whole song. just learn the chorus and freestyle for as long as could hold peoples attention and if they started to get board or i got tired, i'd just bring that chorus in.

going out and street performing 4 nights a week. i built a fanbase. eventually started a Facebook page and got people to add that when i met them on the streets or at gigs. crowd funded an ep. got little bit of national radio play in Australia.

then recently i've done an impromptu tour of the east coast of australia. just jumped in my car and went from city, street performing and picked up gigs in each city by someone seeing me performing & busking.

plus i got kind of lucky that a few videos that people had put up, got some traction online. so i had Facebook video's getting me a few hundred extra lights each week.

which has meant more and more gigs too.

do you live with your parents?

no snark, just wondering how it's done.

if you have a look at my reply in post no. 7.
the dude who asked about street performing.

that kind of explains the whole story. it was kind of fluke. but it's a genuine career now.

which i bought a year ago.

well technically the bank owns most of the house. but i make sure i pay them that big ass amount of money each month to insure i can keep sleeping in it.

and that money comes from Gigs, Busking, and the occasional workshop or guest speaking engagement. in that order too.

i've appreciated hiphop my whole life (born in 1983) but only started rapping just over 3 years ago. I always wanted to rap, but being a mixed race kid born in Kentucky, and growing up in Australia, via a few years in Salt Lake City, UT. I never really felt like I could ever be taken seriously, if i pursued hiphop.

but getting older and the way i get into rapping as just something i happened to love and kind of accidentally found out i could do well. so since everything has just happened so organically. i feel comfortable embracing it now.

but i still look up to guys who have eaten and breathed this shit their whole life. in places where hiphop is life and where hiphop was created.
i want to be able to go to new york city, or philly, or LA or anywhere really. and once people get passed the australia accent have to say... fuck it. the kid can spit. let him spit.


plus there's a change in the air, people are hungry for genuine again and i think freestyle is as genuine as it gets. it's about that moment and you're either there and a part of it. or you missed it. and video's don't do it justice, cause it's a conversation being shared right then and there.

just some thoughts. hopefully it was coherent. i'm currently in a custody battle for my kids... and if i'm really honest, a big part of this post is really just and excuse to think about something else!

>i've appreciated hiphop my whole life (born in 1983) but only
>started rapping just over 3 years ago. I always wanted to rap,
>but being a mixed race kid born in Kentucky, and growing up in
>Australia, via a few years in Salt Lake City, UT. I never
>really felt like I could ever be taken seriously, if i pursued
>hiphop.

it kills me when people say stuff like this. hip-hop is a culture. apply yourself, learn/respect the culture, and the culture will respect you.

Peace,

Spirit (Alan)
http://wutangbook.com

self imposed limitations are the worst, cause they're actually the only ones we can really change and yet they're often the biggest stumbling blocks!

this just got released last week. it's an article in the local Brisbane paper, about me.


http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/brisbane-freestyle-rapper-delights-with-street-rhymes-20150630-gi00si.html