Freestyle: The Art Of Rhyme Tour C’mon Feet, Manchester
‘We’ve been here since October 14th; it is now technically October 29th, right? We’ve done Basel, Switzerland - Copenhagen, Denmark, Oslo, Norway, Düsseldorf, Germany – Wiesbaden, Germany - damn, I’m forgettin’ somebody - hold on - we did Gent, Belgium, right now we in Manchester, UK, tomorrow Seville, Spain, Sunday, Munich, Monday, Austria, we just out here man!’ This is Craig G, and the hectic schedule he’s reeling off is Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme – the tour, bringing the film of that title plus suitably formidable freestyle dons Pumpkinhead, Wordsworth, Punchline and Craig G to the European fans.
If you’re into underground hip hop you’ve probably seen this film – if not, it’s an essential hip hop documentary in the tradition of the classics. Wildstyle gave us that ‘Yo! we're gonna party right here!’ vibe that was hip hop in it's teenage years, Style Wars showed us hip hop from the writers’ side, the individual expression of B-Boy/Girl-ism put up all over NYC, and Freestyle shoots hip hop from the emcees point of view. The film documents what it is and what it takes to be a freestyle battle emcee, at the same time serving up a slice of hip hop history from 92/93 to 2001/2, the roots of which go way back to the time when if you lost a freestyle off the top battle, you and your crew were beat down and taxed! It reveals the flipside of the image conscious, guns’n’glamour of the modern mainstream rap world : from the street level battle emcees via the underground, guys like Juice, right up to the stratosphere level of Mos Def and Pharaohe Monch, the full gamut of the Real is represented.
The film focuses on freestyle as a spontaneous and vital form of creative expression, as a means of self empowerment and a positive spin on negative energies, turning aggression into creativity, even a spiritual thing. It explores questions like spontaneity as true creative expression versus immortality on wax, but with the focus always on the performances – the sick techniques and once-only, top-of-the-head rhymes captured here are like gold dust. This priceless footage is thanks to the unique access that the director had to his subject matter, and the film has the insight, scope and uncontrived feel only possible on such a long-term, non-commercial project:
‘…we didn’t even know we were really shooting a film, it was just kinda like taking pictures - this open mic called ‘The Good Life’ was happening, and then Project Blowed… I had a lot of great MCs I grew up with – I started DJing when I was 14, I was in a band called Ozomatli, did a club called the Breaks, the house band was The Breakestra, and it was just really interesting to me, all my friends, like Black Eyed Peas, Jurassic 5, became big emcees so I was like ‘oh we gotta film this’…. I started shooting this film in 1993 and over the years it just started tumbling and I got hooked up with some editors and by ’98, ’99 had like 400 hours of footage …it took like 3 years to edit it…the idea of making the film was to make a mixtape, but in a visual format, and at the same time tell a story too.’
(- Kevin Fitzgerald, Director)
The film was good - so good that some eager members of the audience were prepared to part with Twenty Whole English Pounds for a copy before the vendor got to grips with the dollars/Stirling exchange rate. From the performers’ latest releases and the DVD itself through to home production mixtapes from members of the audience there was quite a range of produce on sale – adding a welcome flavour of grass roots hip hop graft to a night out.
Back to the business in hand: a fair few people had made it down early to catch the film and, coaxed out of their seats and onto the dance floor by Konny Kon, were ready with an enthusiastic welcome for Wordsworth and Punchline. From tracks on Mirror Music through to brand new stuff from both of ‘em, you could hear their voices oiling up as the set progressed and got steadily more impressive. Providing proof that it’s not quantity but quality of audience that counts and a good emcee can rock a small crowd just like a large one, everyone is crowded up at the front, stood up on tables or chairs to get the best view possible of Punch ‘n’ Words knocking out their classy flows and sharp lyrics. Pumpkinhead steams in next, energy levels high, to deliver a top draw performance whose highpoint was a perfectly formed and passionately delivered anti-war acappella. Freestyle? When they’re this good it’s hard to tell. Finally it’s the man we’ve all been waiting to see, old skool vet Craig G, displaying a mastery of the art of freestyle and mixing it up with a selection of classics like The Symphony and Droppin' Science not to mention the new stuff. His voice is so nice on the ear, his rhymes roll smooth and effortless and his flow, clarity and stage presence mark him out as a consummate performer.
Now I had thought that having a group of peerless battlers come before us they would be doing just that - but what we got so far was acts stepping up one by one and more existing tracks than maverick freestyles. Not for long - a shout from Craig G and I’m nearly knocked off my feet by a speeding Punchline racing through the crowd to burst onstage alongside the full quota of MCs and then some (Skit Slam’s surprise appearance). The grand finale properly kicks off with a quality of performance and freestyle skills that generate proper party vibes, end the night on a high and prove the world-class of those on stage - it could have been a 15,000 seat arena and they would have rocked it same way.
This is up-and-coming Manchester promoters C’mon Feet’s first event after a long summer absence – and a discerning choice it was as well. In a bigger venue it’s a night to watch out for, especially as their next line-up – Genesis Elijah and Wordsmith with DJ Blakey ‘pon decks – shows them bringing yet more top notch emcee talent on a rare trip to the North West (date for the diaries: 18th November).
We managed to catch a quick chat after the show with Kevin Fitzgerald, director of Freestyle and also star of the show Craig G himself, so I’ll leave you with their words.
the sick techniques and once-only, top-of-the-head rhymes captured here are like gold dust
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Kate Nowakowski and Tony Camara
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