Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme

(2000)

★ 6.9 IMDb · 13 votes

Genres: Documentary, Music

Year: 2000

Runtime: 71 мин

Country: United States of America

Director: Kevin Fitzgerald

Cast: Мухаммед Али, Planet Asia, Bahamadia, Akim Funk Buddah, Eluard Burt, Myo Campbell, John Coltrane, Darkleaf, Yasiin Bey, Kirby Dominant

Plot

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.