 My name is Olisa. Some people know me by another name. It's my pseudo name. It's my hero name. It's my rap name. Spicy. So, um, today we're gonna talk a little bit about hip-hop. Now, hip-hop is awesome. I mean, it's the ultimate form of expression. And rap is that expression in word. So, this might be a little scary. But don't worry. It could also be a lot of fun. Because we're gonna freestyle. Let me tell you a story. So, I used to be super scared of freestyling. And I was sitting with my friend one day. She's awesome. She's an emcee. Her name is Peace. She's one of the dopest rappers I know. And we were sitting on my porch, just chilling, you know. We had been hanging out all day. And this was way back. Long time ago. And we'd been hanging out all day. And she was like, yo, let's cypher. Let's freestyle. And I was like, no. No. I don't freestyle. I'm a writer. That's what I do. I was comfortable. She was like, come on. I'll teach you how. And that's what she did. She did that day for me. And I'm gonna do that with you. If you don't know how to freestyle already. We're gonna go over a few techniques. But you're gonna need a few things. First, you're gonna need your senses. Like here, taste, smell, touch. Your senses. You're also going to need a mouth. Well, not really. Because you could do this with pen and pad. If you wanted to, you could write it. That's just fine too. Same techniques work. I'm gonna show you a few different techniques to get into freestyle. But don't worry about a few things that might be in your brain. It's like they were in mine. I had a lot of fear. I was afraid of being imperfect and making mistakes. And what I learned over time is that mistakes are just a part of life. They're a part of art. They're how we learn. They're awesome. They're what we're supposed to do. Like when you learned your ABCs or you learned how to walk, you just fell down and that was okay. You didn't worry about it. The same is true with freestyle and rapping. It's okay to make mistakes. The second thing that you might be afraid of is that you're not original enough that you won't think of something clever. But don't worry about that because you were born original. You're you. And that's it. There's nobody else like you on this whole planet. Nobody. I don't care if you're a twin, a triplet. You are you. And that's enough, okay? The last thing some people are afraid of, I know I am, is our own brain. Just being ourselves. Because what happens is the brain, they have all these thoughts in them that sometimes we don't want to come out of our mouth. And so we're afraid that if we just start talking, those things will just come out. And that's okay too. Start with yourself. If that's a fear that you don't want people to hear you or it's okay to do this alone or with somebody you trust and love or just for fun. So you're not taking it so seriously, you know. Awesome. So let's get into it. The first technique we're going to use is say what you see. That's it. That's how I was taught. Say what you see. So I have these things around me that I see. I see lights. I see cameras. I see a table. This is what I see. So all I have to do is talk to a beat. And I'm freestyling because I didn't write it before. For instance, I have a beat in my head, right? I'm going to say what I see, what's right in front of me. I see a red light. It tells me that it is time for lights, camera, action. What's your satisfaction? These are my papers and they're holding my notes. And this is my table and it's holding me up. I got a rhythm in my step, what you got, what you get. It's who you are. I'm feeling like I'm a star because it's so bright in the bright light. It's like the sunshine. Just fine and you make mistakes. That's cool. So I'm just seeing what I say and saying what I see. That's it. Just try it. It's actually kind of fun. The second technique that we're going to do today is called pick a topic. Let me tell you a story. So I used to be a battle rapper. Like, you know, when people get on stage and they're like, I'm better than you are. And the other person's like, no, I'm better than you are. And somebody wins money or something. So I used to do that. I wasn't the best and that's okay. I'm doing it. There was this one battle I was in at this place. That was a long time ago. There was a place in downtown Seattle called sit and spin where it was a washing machine place. It was a laundry mat with a place where you could have like shows and concerts. It was an amazing place. But there was a battle there and in that battle, they had to pick a topic out of a hat and you had to wrap about that thing. Check it out. I haven't seen these yet. I don't know what's in this. These lovely people here provided some topics for me. So I'm going to pick one and whatever pops into my head. I'm going to share with you. Okay. What is it? Lawn chair. So I got my beat. I'm going to put it in my lawn chair. Chilling in the grass. Wondering how it's going to happen. What will pass time goes on and it goes away. I feel the sun shining on me every day. Even when it rains, rains brings the pain and I don't need to be afraid. Maybe I'll pick another topic. What is often then we'll go to the river, knowing what it is and we'll have a little dinner, and it tastes so good in my hood rocking headphones. No, I'm not alone. Put them on for the boom back. What you got that loving it every day? What do you say? I don't know what goes on, but like Dr. Seuss green eggs and ham. I will not eat them. Sam, I am. I just love to read the little books to the story, to the kids knowing what it is and what it ain't. This is the life. This is the life. This is how you go on a topic. You can have lots and pull them out back to back. Have one. As long as you know a little bit about it, you're ready to go and you just stay on beat. And even if it doesn't run, it doesn't matter. It's just fun. So try it. Write some random things down or pick them out and pull them out. Just try that. It's lots of fun. There are other ways to get into free styling. I've been in a battle where you are brad adoges and you talk about how great you are. And that's fun because I like to big up myself. I don't really like to put people down, though. That's why I didn't do too good at battle rapping because a lot of battle rapping is putting other people down. And I like a compliment battle. I'll tell you a story. I did this one battle called the Four Corners battle. And I made it all the way to the last, last, last level. And I was rapping against my friend. We weren't good friends, but I knew him from the community, the hip hop community, his name's Asa. And we were battling each other, but it turned into a compliment battle because I think he's a great rapper. And so we started battling about how good the other person was. And it was so much fun. It was awesome. And we actually both won that battle. So that's a story. Give compliments. And go have fun and rap. Say whatever you want to the beat. Have a cipher. Say one line. Pass it around. See what can happen. Go back and forth with one other person or just do it all by yourself. Like I said, you can also do this with pen and a paper. Rap, rhythm and poetry. R-A-P. That's a rap.