Film

Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme

2000 · 1h 11m · Documentary · Music

IMDb

7.4

Rotten Tomatoes

94%

Metacritic

63

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.

Muhammad Ali

Himself

Planet Asia

Himself

Bahamadia

Herself

Akim Funk Buddah

Himself

Eluard Burt

Himself

Myo Campbell

Himself

John Coltrane

Himself

Darkleaf

Himself

Yasiin Bey

Himself

Kirby Dominant

Himself

DJ Kool Herc

Debi Mazar

Herself (archive footage)

The Notorious B.I.G.

Tupac Shakur

Boots Riley

Himself

Bobbito Garcia

Himself

• Kevin FitzgeraldDirector
• Henry Alex RubinProducer
• Paul DevlinProducer
• Joey AnuffProducer
• Brad AbramsonExecutive Producer
• Paul DevlinEditor
• Rachel RaimistEditor
• Isaac SolotaroffEditor

Release date

April 14, 2000

Status

Released

Original language

English

Runtime

1h 11m

Genres

Documentary, Music