The post Lupe Fiasco Weighs In On K.Keed Refusing To Freestyle On 5FM Hip Hop Nights appeared first on SA Hip Hop Mag.
Lupe Fiasco Weighs In On K.Keed Refusing To Freestyle On 5FM Hip Hop Nights. The debate around freestyling lit up timelines after South African rapper KKeed declined to rap off the dome during her appearance on 5FM Hip Hop Nights with DJ Speedsta.
During his visit to South Africa for the Back To The City concert, US rap veteran Lupe Fiasco weighed in with a nuanced take that respects the craft while right-sizing its place in modern hip hop.
Asked on 5FM about the importance of freestyling today, Lupe framed it as a tool rather than a mandate. “It has its use cases, right? So, what it is used for and what it kind of should be used for is to maybe fill in the gaps or crowd participation. You can use it strategically,” he said. He pointed out that some artists specialise in true improvisation, the kind where fans throw out words and the rapper builds in real time. That, he noted, is a distinct skill set that not everyone needs to master to be considered authentic.
“Sometimes it’s kind of like a parlour trick. It’s like a skill set,” Lupe continued. “My students have to freestyle, but I don’t really judge their abilities or their authenticity to hip hop based on if they can or can’t freestyle, and it’s a muscle they just have to exercise. But I don’t think it’s a big deal.”
His comments cut to the heart of a recurring tension in hip hop culture. Freestyling has long been celebrated as a proving ground, from cypher circles to radio shows. Yet the modern ecosystem asks artists to excel across studio precision, performance quality, storytelling, branding, and community engagement. In that broader context, Lupe’s view suggests freestyling is valuable when it serves the moment and the audience, not when it becomes a checkbox for credibility.
For KKeed, the refusal to freestyle becomes less a controversy and more an artistic choice about context and presentation. There are stages where spontaneous bars can electrify a room, and there are moments when restraint protects the quality of an artist’s narrative and catalogue. Lupe’s stance gives cover to both realities. Celebrate the craft when it fits. Do not weaponise it when it does not.
If anything, the episode reopens a healthy conversation in SA hip hop. What matters most is not whether an artist can rhyme off the top on request, but whether they move the culture forward with intention, skill, and consistency. Freestyle can be part of that. It does not have to be the whole story.
The post Lupe Fiasco Weighs In On K.Keed Refusing To Freestyle On 5FM Hip Hop Nights appeared first on SA Hip Hop Mag.
The post Lupe Fiasco Weighs In On K.Keed Refusing To Freestyle On 5FM Hip Hop Nights appeared first on SA Hip Hop Mag.
Lupe Fiasco Weighs In On K.Keed Refusing To Freestyle On 5FM Hip Hop Nights. The debate around freestyling lit up timelines after South African rapper KKeed declined to rap off the dome during her appearance on 5FM Hip Hop Nights with DJ Speedsta. Lupe Fiasco Weighs In On K.Keed Refusing To Freestyle On 5FM Hip …
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