Click here for the “Freestyle Beats” Zip file!
This month, you get to show off your family’s totally mad chill freestyle skills in your swagger wagon. Can you be any more awesome than to teach your kids how to rap on beats?
The benefits of freestyling are endless. It not only helps skyrocket you and your child’s conversational skills with speaking on the spot, but also his creativity with having to come up with new content every second. Your brain is constantly working, flowing on all cylinders, where it should be. When your mind is not active like this, I call it vegetable mode. It happens when your child is used to watching TV for hours on end, or playing video games after school each day.
Instead of getting your child to be consuming information, get him to be creating. This keeps a healthy, positive, proactive mind. A person that finds it hard to be “in his head” because he is too busy making things happen rather than waiting for something to happen to him.
So first things first, lets get the materials.
Here’s what you need:
Make a “Freestyle” playlist in iTunes with the songs supplied in your Zip file, so you can easily locate them. Either burn the playlist to a CD or put it on your iPod (if your car can connect to one).
Start a cypher during car rides by popping in the beat CD into your car stereo and rapping with your kids on the way to Shoprite. A great game to play while freestyling is called “The Word Game.” Each rapper gets a turn at rhyming a set of words for twenty to thirty seconds each. After he starts getting tired, move on to the next kid, and so on.
Mommy: “Car.”
Aaron: “Well I’m ridin’ in the car, and I go real far. I shine really bright, I’m a superstar! I am a good boy, and I love my mom. I hear the baby crying on the intercom!”
Daddy: “Running.”
Charlie: “I love jumping and running, and I think it’s really funny. I hop around a lot just like a little bunny!”
When just starting out, make sure the “cypher” begins with you so your children can get an idea of what it’s all about. As time goes on, forget the rules and just start freestyling with each other. You’d be surprised at how talented kids can get at this game, all they need is practice and after a few weeks they’ll be spittin’ rhymes like pros.
Remember, the goal is not to sound like Jay-Z while practicing. I expect you to rap crappy at first! But the whole point is to harness you and your kids creativity in a fun way. Your rhymes can be silly, and start off super simple, just make sure you are having fun.
Plus, you can sleep well knowing that you are the coolest parents in the universe. Anytime parents do something creative with their children, coolness happens. Rock on.
Oh by the way, if you record a video of you and your kids freestyling to one of the beats I’ve provided, send it to me and I’ll post it up on the website! Just put it on Youtube and give me the link. Go Diego! Go!