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(upbeat music)

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-: Hi, my name is Olisa.

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Some people know me by another name.

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It's my pseudo-name, it's my hero name,

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it's my rap name: Spyc-E

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So, today we're gonna talk a little bit about hip-hop.

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Now, hip-hop is awesome.

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I mean, it's the ultimate form of expression.

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And rap is that expression in word.

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So, this might be a little scary, but don't worry,

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it could also be a lot of fun.

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'Cause we're gonna freestyle.

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Let me tell you a story.

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So, I used to be super scared of free-styling.

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And I was sitting with my friend one day.

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She's awesome, she's an emcee, her name is Peace.

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She's one of the dopest rappers I know.

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And we were sitting on my porch just chilling, you know.

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We had been hanging out all day,

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and this was way back, like long time ago.

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And we'd been hanging out all day, and she was like,

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"Yo, let's cypher, let's freestyle,"

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and I was like, "No, no, I don't freestyle.

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"I'm a writer, that's what I do."

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I was comfortable.

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She was like, "Come on, I'll teach you how."

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And that's what she did.

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She did that day for me, and I'm gonna

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do that with you if you don't know how to freestyle already.

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Um, we're gonna go over a few techniques,

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but you're gonna need a few things.

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First, you're gonna need your senses.

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Like, hear, taste, smell, touch, your senses.

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You're also going to need a mouth.

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Well, not really, 'cause you could do this

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with pen and pad, if you wanted to.

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You could write it, that's just fine, too.

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Same techniques work.

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I'm gonna show you a few different techniques

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to get into freestyle, but don't worry

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about a few things that might be in your brain,

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like they were in mine, I had a lot of fear.

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I was afraid of being imperfect and making mistakes.

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And what I learned over time is that mistakes

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are just a part of life, they're a part of art

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they're how we learn, they're awesome,

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they're what we're supposed to do.

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Like, when you learned your ABCs or you learned how to walk,

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you just fell down and that was okay.

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You didn't worry about it.

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Same is true with freestyle and rapping,

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it's okay to make mistakes.

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The second thing that you might be afraid of

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is that you're not original enough,

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that you won't think of something clever.

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But don't worry about that, because you were born original.

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You're you, and that's it, there's nobody

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else like you on this whole planet.

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Nobody, I don't care if you're a twin, a triplet.

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You are you and that's enough, 'kay?

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The last thing some people are afraid of,

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I know I am, is our own brains, just being ourselves.

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Because what happens is is our brains,

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they have all these thoughts in them

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that sometimes we don't wanna come out of our mouth.

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And so we're afraid that if we just start talking,

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those things will just blah, come out, and that's okay, too.

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Start with yourself, if that's a fear,

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that you don't want people to hear you

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or it's okay to do this alone or with somebody

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you trust and love or just for fun,

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so you're not taking it so seriously, you know?

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Awesome, so let's get into it.

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The first technique we're gonna use is: Say What You See.

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That's it, that's how I was taught: say what you see.

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So I have these things around me that I see.

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I see lights, I see cameras, I see a table.

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This is what I see, so all I have to do is talk to a beat,

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and I'm free-styling, 'cause I didn't write it before.

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For instance, I have a beat in my head, right?

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♪ I'm gonna say what I see ♪

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♪ What's right in front of me ♪

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♪ I see a red light, tells me that it is time ♪

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♪ For lights, camera, action ♪

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♪ What's your satisfaction ♪

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♪ These are my papers and they're holding my notes ♪

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♪ And this is my table and it's holding me up ♪

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♪ I got a rhythm in my step, whatcha got, whatcha get ♪

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♪ It's who you are, I'm feeling like I'm a star ♪

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♪ 'Cause it's so bright in the bright light ♪

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♪ It's like the sunshine, no, just fine ♪

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And you make mistakes, and that's cool.

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So I'm just seeing what I say

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and saying what I see, that's it.

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Just try it, it's actually kind of fun.

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The second technique that we're gonna

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do today is called: Pick a Topic.

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Let me tell you a story.

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So, I used to be a battle rapper.

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Like, you know, when people get on stage

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and they're like, Oh, I'm better than you are.

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And the other person's like, No I'm better than you are.

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And somebody wins money or something.

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So I used to do that.

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I wasn't the best, and that's okay.

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I had fun doing it.

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There was this one battle I was in at this place,

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that was a long time ago, there was this place

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in downtown Seattle called Sit and Spin,

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where it was a washing machine place, was a laundromat,

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with a place where you could have like, shows, and concerts.

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It was an amazing place.

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But there was a battle there and in that battle

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they had us pick a topic out of a hat,

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and you had to rap about that thing.

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Check it out.

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I haven't seen these yet.

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I don't know what's in this.

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These lovely people here provided some topics for me.

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So I'm gonna pick one, and whatever pops into my head,

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I'm gonna share with you, 'kay?

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What is it?

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Lawn chair.

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So I got my beat.

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♪ Sittin' in my lawn chair, chillin' in the grass ♪

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♪ Wonderin' how it's gonna happen, what will pass ♪

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♪ Time goes on and it goes away ♪

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♪ I feel the sun shinin' on me everyday ♪

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♪ Even when it rains, rains brings the pain ♪

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♪ And I don't need to be afraid ♪

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♪ Maybe I'll pick another topic ♪

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♪ What is off it, then we'll go to the river ♪

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♪ Knowing what it is and we'll have a little dinner ♪

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♪ Hoping that we will and it tastes so good ♪

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♪ In my hood rockin' headphones ♪

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♪ No, I'm not alone, put 'em on, for the boom back ♪

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♪ Whatcha got that, lovin' it everyday ♪

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♪ What do you say, I don't know what goes on ♪

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♪ But like Dr. Seuss, "Green Eggs and Ham" ♪

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♪ I will not eat them, Sam I Am ♪

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♪ I just love to read the little books ♪

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♪ To the story to the kids ♪

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♪ Knowing what it is and what it ain't ♪

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♪ This is the life, this is the life ♪

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And that's how you go on a topic.

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You can have lots, and pull them out back-to-back.

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Have one, as long as you know a little bit about it,

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you're ready to go, and you just stay on beat.

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And even if it doesn't rhyme, it doesn't matter,

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it's just fun, so try it.

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Write some random things down, or pick them out,

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and pull 'em out, just try it out, it's lots of fun.

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There are other ways to get in to free-styling.

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There is the battle where you are braggadocious

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and you talk about how great you are.

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And that's fun, because I like to big up myself.

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I don't really like to put people down, though.

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That's why I didn't do too good at battle rapping,

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because a lot of battle rapping

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is putting other people down.

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And I like a compliment battle.

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Tell you a story.

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I did this one battle called the Four Corners Battle

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and I made it all the way to the last, last, last level.

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And I was rappin' against my friend.

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We weren't good friends, but I knew him from the community,

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the hip-hop community, his name's Asa.

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And we were battling each other,

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but it turned into a compliment battle,

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'cause I think he's a great rapper.

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And so we started battling about

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how good the other person was, and it was so much fun.

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It was awesome, and we actually both won that battle.

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So, that's a story.

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Give compliments, go have fun and rap.

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Say whatever you want to the beat.

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Have a cypher, say one line, pass it around,

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see what can happen, go back-and-forth

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with one other person, or just do it all by yourself.

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Like I said, you can also do this with pen and a paper.

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Rap: rhythm and poetry, R-A-P.

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That's a wrap.

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(upbeat music)