We all have that friend that gets a little too faded and tries his hand at freestyling completely embarrassing himself, but why does he feel the need to do it? Why does freestyling have the ability to make you feel so… free? The answer may lie in research conducted at the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders in neuroscience.
Twelve professional rappers were connected to an fMRI machine, or brain scanner, and asked to spit eight bars of written lyrics and eight bars of freestyled lyrics. The difference between the two tests show polarizing results. When saying the writtens, the active parts of the brain were areas associated with memory and motor control. On the other hand, freestyle rapping lit up parts of the brain that are linked with self-motivation, organization, language, and emotion.
Additionally, the self-monitoring and editing sectors of the subject’s brain were turned off, more or less shutting down the inner critic in the back of their head. Self consciousness and insecurity are erased, resulting in the rapper entering what is known as the “flow state”. Researchers believe that rappers slip into an altered state of mind when freestyling, in which all brain power is diverted to creativity and improvisation. This might be why some artists freestyle with their eyes closed or their hands moving, trying to find a way to feel comfortable, physically and mentally, in order to achieve the flow state.
It may come naturally to some people, but a successful freestyle can be achieved by anyone who sets their mind to it. To sharpen your improvised, lyrical prowess and enter the elusive flow state, you need to put yourself in an uncomfortable situation and freestyle in it. It is only there that you will learn to truly not care what people think about you and focus on rapping about WHATEVER you want to say.
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Source: theatlantic.com