Some say that in hip hop culture, the art of freestyling is on the decline as years progress. There are plenty of artists from younger generations who are killing the game when it comes to spitting a few bars off the top of the dome, so XXL caught up with a few rising artists to check in with them on whether they prefer to write out their rhymes or freestyle.
"I don't do no freestylin'." Blueface said. "Zero. Everything is written, preparated before it's done. It could be one word or I could take your bar form an iconic bar to a regular bar. Yeah, I gotta put full train of thought into that bar, and that's why my bars are iconic. Stop playin'."
Polo G adds, "My recording process is every time I get in the studio, I gotta write my lyrics all the way out and just read it off of my phone or something. Or, I'll just come to the studio prepared already. I'll listen to the beat at home, [write] something to it and then come to the studio." He added, "I never like to freestyle 'cause I don't like the way that you can tell that somebody freestyle 'cause they jump from topic to topic."
Rico Nasty, on the other hand, was excited to talk about freestyling. "If I freestyle the first four lines, I can get a concept outta that," she said. "If I write the whole thing it might take a little bit longer, but I normally write my stuff. I normally hear the beat, get on my phone, and start writing." She added that she doesn't freestyle "that much unless I'm like, high as hell."
Boogie said in ninth grade his glasses broke so he didn't do much writing, and he hasn't written since. Lil Keed said he doesn't have to write because "it comes from my heart," and YBN Almighty Jay shared that he enjoys both arts of freestyling and writing. Watch the clip below and hear from Flipp Dinero, Comethazine, OMB Petty, and JayDaYoungan, as well.