So I’m at this party where these kids have their friends’ bands play in the basement. The bands are all done, and people are filtering back upstairs. I’m in the middle of a chat when someone hops on the bass and starts playing a smooth little lick. He’s soon joined by a drummer, and the two are grooving. I start freestyling to my friend, just because the music moves me to do so.

Then I figure I should go up and try to get in on the jam, since there’s a microphone, but I’m not gonna get up and assume everyone wants to here my weak raps. Then this other guy goes up, and I’m thinking okay, maybe we’ll get to do something here, but I should have known better, because dude has a hype man. Not a real hype man, just a drunk dude shouting, “Oh shit! Rip it up!” every time dude busts a so-so rhyme. His style isn’t bad, but it’s all cocky posturing, and he isn’t working with the drums and bass, he’s just standing on their shoulders to look good. Nobody’s feeling it though, so he doesn’t spit more than a few minutes.

Later I’m standing up near the jam and some kid is mumbling some Tribe lyrics, and I complete the line. He vibes on that, and next thing I know we’re passing the mic and freestyling together. The drum and bass players are completely into it and everything is positive.

That’s really what it’s about, is authenticity. If you need some kid to come up with you to be your hype man, you probably shouldn’t get up in the first place. None of my freestyles were great, but I had fun, and we all got to express a little something. Spontaneous expression like that is definitely one of my favorite things in life. Part of that means that it can’t be forced, but we can create conditions to make it easier for the impulse to manifest.