Hip-hop fans, rejoice. Director Frank Meyer’s incisive Freestyle 101: Hip Hop History offers a detailed, highly entertaining look at the evolution of the art of freestyling. Through interviews with highly-regarded MCs and industry insiders, as well as a plethora of archival footage and mind-blowing rhymes, the documentary delivers a first-class account of this under-appreciated art form.
To come up with sentences that rhyme out of thin air is difficult enough. To imbue those rhymes with sociopolitical context, puns, subliminal meanings, complex wordplay, or simply disses involves real talent. And yet, even those who possess such skills struggle to make it in the cutthroat, ultra-competitive world of freestylers.
Meyer focuses on two such formidable talents: Open Mike Eagle and Iron Solomon. They book their own dates and produce their own recordings. They tour the country on their dime. It’s a real hustle, demanding ceaseless energy, perseverance and optimism. As one of the numerous talking heads states, “You have to believe, “I’m the best, and I can do it.’”
Freestyle 101: Hip Hop History takes viewers on a wild ride starting in 1970s New York. This was when breakdancing became popular, broken-word poetry was put over a beat, and bands like the Sugarhill Gang laid the foundation for rap music. It’s also when the first documented hip-hop party took place. The narrative then tracks hip hop all the way to the current day. Meyer traces the “trickling down” of hip hop to L.A., as well as the rise of social media and how it affected this evolution.

“…look at the evolution of the art of freestyling.”
Ice-T, Fat Joe, and The Game are just some of the stalwarts that contribute valuable tidbits, reminiscing about how they started and their early freestyling days. “Let the lyrics flow freely through you and come off your head,” RZA advises.
Freestyle 101: Hip Hop History delves into the definition of “freestyle,” comparing it to improvisational jazz. It asks, “What is behind the ‘science of rapping?’” before actually analyzing what happens to the human mind while it’s coming up with rhymes. Frequent rap battles (a cross between freestyling and pre-written disses) are portrayed in their full, half-aggressive, half-joyful glory.
Therein lies the heart of Meyer’s doc: the pros just doing their thing. One rapper, called Supernatural, holds the world record for the longest freestyle – almost 10 hours of rhymes, with infrequent 5-minute breaks. The lyrical prowess on display is jaw-dropping, a mix of deeply embedded sadness and empowerment. The camaraderie, save for a few particularly aggressive rap battles, is heartening. Men and women create poems out of thin air, sharing their experiences and being their true selves, if only for a few minutes.
Sure, hip hop is a hefty subject matter that would require an entire series to cover the topic in its entirety. The filmmaker has no choice but to skip past some major events in rap history and disregard some prolific names. Unfortunately, the low production values betray themselves at times.
That said, Freestyle 101: Hip Hop History is a remarkably succinct, focused little film that pays tribute to some of our greatest freestyling legends and functions as an ode to the undervalued ones. It’s so elementary, I will be brisk – miss this movie at your own risk. Yeah, I just came up with that.