Movie Description
Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme is a 2000 documentary film directed by Kevin Fitzgerald about the art of freestyle, improvisational hip-hop. Taking more than seven years to make, the documentary includes performances and commentary by artists such as Supernatural, Mos Def, The Roots, Notorious B.I.G., Jurassic 5, and Pharoahe Monch.
Directed by Kevin Fitzgerald (also known as DJ Organic), the history of freestyle rap is explored in the film, with a mix of performance and commentary from a number of artists. Using archive footage, the film traces the origins of improvised hip-hop to sources including African-American preachers, Jamaican toasts, improvised jazz, and spoken-word poets such as The Last Poets.
A. O. Scott of the New York Times described it as "a heady, rousing education in an art form that is too often misunderstood", and Fred Camper of the Chicago Reader called it "[a]n engaged and knowing look at the underground world of improvised rap, concentrating on artists less interested in commercial success and cutting records than in the 'spontaneous right now' of 'nonconceptual rhyme.'"
