Silence. My cousin and I are making a long drive, and the radio is busted. “We should freestyle” he suggests. He dabbles in rap. I immediately cringe at the thought, but agree nonetheless, quickly finding a youtube instrumental beat on my phone. He spits a few bars, and then waits for me to hop in. I freeze – it’s like the first time I approached a girl. I’m nervous. Hell, frightened.
Some of the worst rap known to man is delivered over the next two hours. But I was hooked. The few times I strung together a smooth combination of words were exhilarating — like the first time you hold a fun conversation with a cute stranger at the bar.
The same way I had become addicted to game, thoughts of freestyle began to dominate my conscience mind. After several weeks of freestyling on my hour-long commute home from work, I finally hit the inflection point — I could comfortably carry on for minutes at a time. The more I freestyle, the more parallels and connections I make between freestyling and game. And probably of more interest to you — the more my game has improved. The following list highlights some of the main contributions freestyle rap can add to your game, and more specifically — the ability to effortlessly banter.
1. Get loose.
You simply cannot freestyle when tense or nervous. By the same token, your game sucks under these conditions. I guarantee if you become confident freestyling in front of family and friends — talking to a girl, or anyone for that matter, will be a breeze. Even now, every time I freestyle in front of someone new, I get knots in my stomach as I begin. It sets the social confidence bar higher, making game seem relatively less strenuous.
Roosh recommends an episode of Seinfeld before gaming. I like that, but I have found a quick freestyle session to be twice as effective. And this extends beyond game — a few weeks ago I freestyled on my way to an interview. Needless to say, I killed it.
2. Shut your brain off.
Most people suck at freestyle when they start, because their mind is racing to come up with words and rhymes. Of course, all of this thinking ultimately inhibits them and leads to the familiar freeze reaction where nothing is said. The same phenomenon occurs in game. You only start to flow when you trust your subconscious mind to do all the work. One study of rappers’ brains while freestyling showed a reduction of activity in the prefrontal cortex — leading to lowered inhibitions.
3. Forget mistakes.
Another obstacle in learning to freestyle is continuing to spit after making a mistake. This one took me a while. I would complete a couple rhymes and then mumble some words, miss a rhyme, or lose my rhythm and stop dead in my tracks. When you are able to forget the mistake and instinctively supply a new line, your rate of improvement skyrockets. The same goes for bantering with some cutie. Say something stupid? Who gives a fuck.
4. Change subjects with ease.
Freestyling for more than a few seconds generally requires a change in topic. Making this switch without missing a beat is crucial. Once you have the ability to connect different thoughts and ideas while continuing to rhyme AND stay in rhythm — simple bantering starts to seem like a joke.
Clearly learning to freestyle can yield tangible improvements for your game. I promise it has done so for myself. It offers the ability to effortlessly get into a groove, and unconsciously flow. At the very least, it has given me a useful technique to get loose, and an entertaining skill that never fails to impress.
If you want to give it a try, there are a lot of youtube videos that offer practical instruction. Also, I find that the Pandora Instrumental Hip-Hop station offers a good selection of beats to get started.
Don’t Miss: Passive Game vs. Active Game
I’m WN, but sure, I’m down.
Affecting Negroe mannerisms is a time-honored ploy with the ladies. If you can shake your booty, then so much the better.
I am not kidding you. I have been approached by women after having been seen slapping hands and talking shit with Black Gentlemen.
…keep it in the circus.
Freestyle is Improv in pure lyrical form.
Uncle Elmer cracks me up.
No, I’m serious. Consider how your assigned Encorpera persona of IT Dweeb will transform the minute the office ladies see you out “shooting hoops” and being all “in dey face” with the Brothers from the loading dock.
This post is exactly why I love RoK. There’s such a diverse authorship that posts are (almost) always completely unique and original.
i completely agree,
RoK is amazing.
Keep good work dudes.
I started this article with my “bullshit” face on, but midway through I had to take it off and exchange it for my “I can’t believe that I’m actually considering this” face.
This is like that Karate Kid shit, where you think you’re learning to paint a fence and then the next thing you know you’re crane-kicking the Cobra Kai to an 80’s soundtrack featuring Survivor.
really interesting post and a subject I’ve been looking more into. I was considering an improv class but might give this a whirl.
No idea what this has to do with brothers and loading docks. Would you make the same connections about blues or classic rock?
Most rock is dreary, dick-wilting nonsense. Lay some Joplin, Armstrong, or Ellington on em. Bishes be yankin’ down their panties in no time.
As for the loading dock, get out there and play the dozens with those people of color. Say things like “I will kick off in yo’ ass!”
But don’t worry, it’s all showmanship.
Haha, this is an original and fun idea, will have to give this a shot.
no thanks jeff LOL
go back to misc phaggot
this shit is genius,
im so glad i seen this,
next time i see ya moms
she’ll be sat atop my penis.
nice article,
Krauser also have something on this line:
.
http://krauserpua.com/2012/09/05/magic-mushrooms-as-an-inner-game-accelerant/
its alvo have some connection to this too:
.
http://nexxtlevelup.com/everything-else/the-truth-behind-the-hbd-cult-prt-2
Log onto your Pandora account (or Spotify), and play a series of Visionaries or Bonobos instrumentals, and try to spit rhymes over those beats. I am embarassed that I never made the connection for myself. Ok, bathroom mirror, here I come!!!!!
i been freestyling since i was a kid before rap when there were no black people around and my dad played country music in the car and we were rich so it can’t be a black thing im white
must be a dude thing cause nobody taught me to do the shit i just did it rymen and singng it
I can attest that this works although I have not gotten nearly as into it as the author. Thought it was just me… good to see someone else confirm what I experienced. Last few weeks I have been rapping (terribly) as I get ready to go out, amuses me and loosens up the verbal muscles,.
Id be curious if anyone’s tried improv classes and seen any results.
Really, really interesting….this article is a lot deeper than you might think. Freestyle rapping, much like poetry recitation, speaking a foreign language, delivering a speech, or a sharp debate, can literally fire the synapses of the brain and make you more verbally agile and acute. The art of speaking and conversation is literally your lifeline when trying to approach and open a girl. So, bravo to David for pointing out this connection. Any exercise that forces you to think spontaneously and respond orally will have the effect of honing your skills of banter and repartee. The art of speaking and bullshitting is acquired, not born.
its why def jam poetry is still popular
Thank you David/let lose the prose
Off da top of yo dome/ Pantalones prolific/
A lyrical horrific/trusting my instinct/I think I actually have a future in this/ like pickup for Indians/and magnums for Asians/
Talkin about condoms/and NOT guns
Deflowering bull nuns/ hard to stick to a topic/ Ah fuck it / I suck at this/
For now/need more practice/anyhow….
You like?
The articles here are getting increasingly absurd.
Seriously?!
Shut up u gimp
That’s Mr. Gimp for you, Özgür.
i’m with hook or crook. first thought the article was BS, now ive spent nearly an hour practising spitting some lines
just googled a few videos and found a random word generator and started:
http://creativitygames.net/random-word-generator/randomwords/8
just keep going and you get better over time.
also from doing about an hour of this ive realised that you don’t need to end every word with the subject you’re talking about. as some words don’t have close enough words to rhyme with.
instead by working with auxillary words, you can maintain the flow without racking the brain looking for something that rhymes with something obscure
also, it seems really silly but if you keep the context of the rhymes to the profane, the sexual, how badass you are, how other people are shit in comparison to you, how you’re rolling in all the pussy etc it really is a lot easier to rhyme and remember the previous line you’ve said keeping it somewhat coherent
great stuff, forces sharp thinking. a key skill in game
…hey here’s another approach: act like someone with some self-respect that has an income and has seen his father somewhere besides a wanted poster. Any amount of time you spend with the kind of trashy broad that would go in for gangsta game is going to equal the time you spend getting antibiotics for whatever the mudshark gives you. Thanks, no.
freestyle ain’t easy and you cant make it it sleazy unless you are up there with jay-z…oh well its a start
Return of the Kings is a tight male blog / It lifts the fog off all my blue pill dogs
I just made that up, yo.