Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme (2000)

If someone would hand you a piece of paper and would tell you that you’d have a minute to write down a poem, would you be able to write one that makes sense? What if you didn’t have the piece of paper and had to think of something on the spot. It would need to rhyme, have a rhythm and a flow, would you be able to do that? This is the world of the freestyle, in which rappers show how quickly they can think, say it and at the same time tell a story. It’s something which takes a lot of practice and when you are thinking of the next thing to say your mind is in a different place compared to what your mouth is doing (saying something you already thought up). This documentary focusses on the freestyle and does this the best way possible: By interviewing a lot of artists and show lots of freestyles. Continue reading

Style Wars (1984)

Movies and documentaries are sometimes excellent time capsules where you are transported to the time it is set. You travel back and see what the streets looked like at the time and what was in fashion. Style Wars is one of these time capsules that shows two subjects: The start of B-Boys and the battle of the city of New York against graffiti and the reaction of the artists. Continue reading