More than eight years later, I still can’t stop thinking about the Black Thought freestyle on Funkmaster Flex’s Hot 97 show. Nearly 10 minutes. No hook. No break. I still go back to it, and I still find something new every time.
Why This Freestyle Still Fascinates Me
Most viral moments last a week. This one is still alive. It happened in December 2017, and people still bring it up in barbershops, on panels, and in my own conversations.
Why? Because the numbers were big, but the craft was bigger. It ran more than 2,000 words. It passed one million YouTube views in 24 hours, according to Rolling Stone. That was just the start.
Ask yourself something. How many things from 2017 are you still talking about today?
The Myth I Never Bought
Back then, and even now, I hear the same thing. “If he prepared, it doesn’t count.”
I never bought that. Black Thought told Rolling Stone it was a blend of improvisation and prepared material, like an actor who memorizes lines and can still improvise. He said it has to be both improv and muscle memory.
The years have proven him right. Prep is not the opposite of skill. Prep is what skill looks like when it has done its homework.
That is why the Black Thought freestyle works as a lesson for anyone who speaks in public. Whether you host a morning show, lead a nonprofit, or run a small business, the same rule applies. Do the work before the lights come on. Know your structure. Trust your training when the moment gets loud. The Black Thought freestyle shows what happens when preparation and instinct meet, and it is the same thing I coach leaders to do on camera every week. Watch it again this week, and take notes on how he builds each section.
What the Critics Saw, and What I See
NPR pointed to his breath control and his stacked metaphors. They said he moved from Shakespeare to the Kardashians and kept it tight, like a comedian building an hour-long special.
I see something more. I see a man who is the MC of The Roots, the Philadelphia group he co-founded, and who plays with the band on The Tonight Show. He had years of reps behind that night. The 10 minutes were the proof, not the beginning.
The Lesson I Keep Teaching
I coach leaders on how to show up with confidence on camera and on stage. Every time, I come back to this freestyle. Preparation is what makes you look natural. The people who look effortless did the work first.
I will be straight with you. Most people never put in that kind of work. That is why most people never get that kind of moment.
LL Cool J vs. Black Thought: My Take
People still love a good matchup. The video below, from the channel Skripture Made This Remix, is called “LL Cool J vs Black Thought Freestyle.”
Let me be fair. LL Cool J has been a hip hop icon since the 1980s, and nobody takes that away from him. But when I judge a freestyle, I look at stamina, structure, and control. On those three, what Black Thought did that night is still hard to beat.
That is my opinion, and more than eight years have not changed it.
Your Turn
Do you still remember where you were when you first watched it? Is a prepared freestyle still a real freestyle? Tell me in the comments: LL Cool J or Black Thought? Like, subscribe, and follow, and watch more on DETV Entertainment.
