For years I’ve said that the best freestyle artists in the game are Tyler The Creator, Childish Gambino, Shia Labeouf, and Wayne Brady but I never had them in any precise order. But with the new Tyler The Creator freestyle on Funk Flex I think Tyler just solidified his spot at number 1.
Oh and by the way for those of you who want to debate or roll your eyes at my list, I’m talking about pure freestyle not written verses. I’ve excluded any instance when a rapper comes on Sway and just spits something that they wrote for a song but end up just using in the moment. There’s very few people bold enough to go on live radio and make it all up on the spot. My list just pays homage to those who were brave enough to do it and did it well.
Anyway, here’s the freestyle of the year:
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Ah ah ah ah!!!!
So fucking good! Holy shit this clip has everything. Let’s break it down:
- Tyler’s sexuality has been called into question for many years now. I’ve been openly against the constant speculation over if he is gay or not. It’s none of anyone’s business. He’s never addressed it publicly. But he continues to troll. He mentions having sex with men amid a top-of-the-dome freestyle and doesn’t flinch. Just seamlessly slips it into his rhymes as if it’s just another bar. He doesn’t crack a smile to indicate that he’s joking or taking a shot at the historically homophobic rap industry. It’s just another rhyme to keep people scratching their heads. Brilliant.
- Then he doubles down and includes Funk Flex into his verse, insinuating that he’s gay as well. Again, no smile or laugh. Funk Flex throws his hands up like “yo yo yo wait what dude we did not discuss that” and Tyler looks at him as if confused why Funk Flex is protesting the lyric. Brilliant again.
- The final piece of this masterpiece is how Tyler continues to flow with regular “rap” rhymes after these comments. He even takes deep pauses as if everything he says is deep and well thought out.
He completely blurs the line between reality and trolling and I just can’t stop watching it.
