Freestyle - The Art Of Rhyme (DVD)

Freestyle - The Art Of Rhyme (DVD) ... released 04 July, 2005 at Palm Pictures / Features of the DVD: Colour, DVD-Video, PAL / Freestyle makes for the ideal double-bill with Scratch, Doug Pray's fine film about the art of the DJ. Kevin Fitzgerald looks instead at the MC, specifically those who make their rhymes up on the spot, like a slam poet or jazz vocalist adding new flavor to an old standard. Unlike Scratch or The Freshest Kids, an exploration of b-boy culture, Freestyle doesn't explain or trace the history of a form as much as celebrate it. In other words, the focus is more on the practitioners of the present, despite some valuable commentary from Abiodun Oyewole and Umar Bin Hassan of the legendary Last Poets, on circles and battles, and some inspiring footage of a 17-year-old Biggie Smalls (the Notorious B.I.G.) cutting loose in Bed-Stuy. Other notable participants include Common, Black Thought (the Roots) Chali Tuna (Jurassic 5), Mikah 9 (Freestyle Fellowship), and Mos Def (Black Star).