Shenseea's Best Freestyles

Shenseea is the latest rapper to have a freestyle go viral. Seeing rappers freestyle is always interesting for multiple reasons. Sometimes they’ll use a pre-written verse and adapt it to the beat. If they’re promoting an album, sometimes the verse ends up on it. In other cases, the rapper goes off the top of their head and mentions people or objects in the room with them. Or, in a showcase of self-awareness, they reference something they said earlier in the freestyle. Further, to display humor, they may mention that they are trying to think of what to say next. Shenseea’s most recent freestyle shows her skill, but this latest is not her first. We’ve listed others she’s done and discussed her bars.

This is the most recent freestyle from Shenseea. However, this one was not on a radio show. She released it herself on her YouTube channel. Against a solid green background, Shenseea keeps all the attention on her bars. She even looks directly at the camera at some points, ensuring viewers know she meant what she said.

There is also a hypeman in the background, but his presence doesn’t add to or detract from Shenseea’s display of talent. In this one, she raps over the instrumental to “Locked Up” by Akon. This beat’s minimal layers allow her to switch between flows with ease. Her subject matter includes her skill as an artist, her son, and even some shots at someone. Her punchlines are sprinkled around these moments, and listeners will likely notice a new one each time they hear. Shenseea’s accent is something that makes her various flows especially engaging. 

Power 106 is a radio station in Los Angeles known for its impact on hip-hop—and artists' freestyles. For this freestyle, Shenseea was on one of the most iconic beats of all time: Lauryn Hill’s “Doo Wop (That Thing).” Shenseea raps for 95 percent of her verse but weaves in the song’s original chorus. She demonstrates how well she can control her voice by seamlessly transitioning from rapping to signing and then back to rapping again. As with all of her freestyles, she looks like she’s having fun while simultaneously displaying true skill as a rapper. She’s comfortable in her flows and controls them nicely.

Shenseea doing a freestyle on Funk Flex’s show is a right of passage. A freestyle on a radio show gives a rapper’s listeners a chance to hear them do something outside of the booth. Freestyles on this show also often go viral. Sheensea’s freestyle lasted about a minute and a half, but she said a lot. In this one, she raps over a more dancehall-esque beat, which she's known for. However, she takes her skill to the next level by slipping in a few Spanish words. Her flow switches are again a testament to her abilities, and she weaves in lines about the people in the room with her, too.

This is another freestyle from Shenseea that she released herself. Once again, she goes for a minimal approach to the visuals to keep the focus on her words. In this one, she does two freestyles over two different beats. The first is over Young T & Bugsey ft. Headie One’s “Don’t Rush” is instantly recognizable by many people. Shenseea’s flow stays as rapid fire as her other ones in this list, but we see her take a breath in this one. Recently, she’s mastered her breath control and still incorporates flow switches that allow her to catch it strategically. The second freestyle, “Bad Habit,” almost doubles as a music video. It has background vocals that enhance Shenseea’s performance. This is fitting since it was an original song by Shenseea that was released in 2020.

Shenseea having these freestyles is a treat for her listeners because she does not rap the same way on her album, ALPHA. However, she still has shared some of her rap skills on songs with other artists. The most popular one was when she collaborated with Megan Thee Stallion for a song called “Lick.” While their collaboration was celebrated, many fans of her freestyle were disappointed in the song's lyrical content.

She was also featured on “Ok Ok pt 2” from Ye’s Donda album. This track was much more in line with what fans of the freestyles wanted as it had Shenseea using the same intricate and strategic flows they had previously seen from her. Only time will tell if new music from her fits this lane. 

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