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A Week of Best Of’s 2022: Freestyles
12.26.22
We have officially made it, to the last week of 2022. The music industry is relatively quiet around this time, and hopefully a lot of us are at home resting, gearing up for the new year, as well. With every year-end, however, we finally get to talk about the ‘Best Of’s.’ Everyone has their own Spotify Wrap or Year In Apple Music, and everyone has an opinion on who had the best product out this year.
This week, we’ll round up 2022 with a ‘Best Of’ each day, leading up to the start of 2023. Here is what our schedule will look like:
Monday: Best Freestyle
Tuesday: Best Music Video
Wednesday: Best Collaboration Album of the Year
Thursday: Artist of the year
Friday: Album of the year
To kick things off with best freestyle of the year, we saw a lot of greatness in this category. It may have seemed at one point that artists could no longer freestyle, but with platforms like Funk Flex and the LA Leakers, freestyles became an imperative piece to many album roll out marketing plans.
To my points made above, these freestyles typically come when an artist is releasing a new album. Cam’Ron had released an album in 2019, he did a Verzuz in 2021, but what did he have going on? Well, he did later on this year release a collaborative album with A-Trak, U Wasn't There. So, this was certainly an amazing time for Cam’Ron to remind the world who is was, and that he skills are still unmatched.
Cam’Ron made an impression right away, when he came to the booth to see Funk Flex with about seven or eight of his friends, all hanging out, smoking and drinking in the background. While some bobbed their heads, others acted like they hear Cam’Ron do this on the regular, and this was all light work.
When Funk Flex started to intro Cam’Ron and give him his flowers of what he has accomplished already as an artist, Cam’Ron told Funk Flex that the listeners can Google him, and to drop the beat. Well, that is just what he did, and Cam’Ron did not disappoint. He went in without missing a beat or a breath, for four whole minutes before the instrumental ended, to which he went in on a new instrumental for a second time, for another two full minutes.
I many times wondered how prepared the artists are going into the booth. Do they know what instrumental they are going to get? Have they rehearsed or written this down previously? Well, Cam’Ron said he heard the beat for the first time two minutes before walking into the booth, but you would have thought he had wrote the thing. He claimed his dominance in this industry, and was definitely a big contender for best freestyle of 2022.
Glo Rilla recently went on Funk Flex to show off her freestyle skills. After the instant and extreme success of her breakthrough single FNF, some thought Glo would have her fifteen minutes and go away. However she went three-for-three with her hit singles, and already dropped an EP and won many awards. Still not convinced if it’s Big Glo’s talent or the support of Yo Gotti? She absolutely curshed her Funk Flex Freestyle.
Glo Rilla rapped for one minute straight over the beat, and came back in for 30 more seconds right after. She rapped about growing up poor and thanked Gotti for the opportunity. She did is all with the biggest smile on her face. Proving not only can she really do this rap thing, but she absolutely loves it, as well. One of my favorites for sure.
Conway the Machine & Jae Skeese LA Leakers
One thing about Griselda, is that they are going to put on their artists. We are currently waiting on these two to drop a collaboration album, which the duo announced was coming a few months ago, suggesting they’re working hard together all 2022. They certainly have lived up to that, seeing as this freestyle was released in February of this year. When it comes to an eye-catching, (or ear-catching), freestyle, while probably not always the artist’s choice, it starts with the beat. These two got Pusha T’s Diet Coke instrumental, which we obviously all know and love. This on one hand is a great thing, because of the interest and knowledge around the beat, but could also be negative, because the artist now has a lot to live up to with such a fan favorite. Whether or not you know Jae Skeese, you can tell why he is a Griselda guy. He took this very seriously, was bar heavy, and focused, the entire time. Conway came through and crushed her part with serval punchlines, and overall, the two went without missing a beat for five and a half minutes. No matter what way you look at it, Griselda absolutely crushed 2022.
Symba has had a huge 2022, and Funk Flex confirmed this by calling him “Top Three New Artists with the Bars.” The two started off their conversation with giving each other their flowers, though Symba suggested having a “bone to pick with Flex.” He spoke directly to Flex his entire freestyle, with a specific bone to pick with Flex, and for the rest of the things he had to say. Symba shared important things about using music and sports as an outlet to stay safe, he had moments where he would shout out his tour and new music, he was funny at times, and serious at others. To showcase so much skill and versatility in just a few minutes, even Flex said it was the best freestyle of the year. I got chills several times throughout this piece, and would have to agree this is definitely up there for one of the top freestyles of the year.
Drill music has had a massive run this year, and we’re constantly talking about the differences between Chicago and Brooklyn Drill. However, if you’ve really paid attention, you know that the UK has been going crazy in the drill music scene, and Central Cee is at the top of this list of artists crushing the game. Central Cee is from London, but came to LA to share a little bit about himself and his hometown. His LA Leakers Freestyle was a fun and catchy way, going back and forth with different “British Slang” words and how our vocabulary differs from one another. Not only that, but he paid a lot of respect to the States, and different artists from our country. It was really cool and fun. Central Cee is doing a tour at the top of the year in the States and is definitely someone to look out for to have a huge year in 2023.
