"Freestyle" is a song by American rapper and singer

Rod Wave Rodarius Marcell Green (born August 27, 1998), known professionally as Rod Wave, is an American rapper and singer. He is known for his strong voice and incorporation of hip hop and R&B, and has been recognized as a trailblazer of soul-trap. Wa ...

. It was released on July 31, 2020 in the lead up to the deluxe edition of his second studio album ''

Pray 4 Love ''Pray 4 Love'' is the second studio album by American rapper and singer Rod Wave. It was released on April 3, 2020, through Alamo Records. The album contains one collaboration featuring American rapper ATR Son Son on the track "Rags2Riches". A d ...

'', which was released on August 7. It is the eight single from the album. The song sees Rod Wave rap-singing about his come up.

Composition

As the title suggests, the song is a

freestyle rap Freestyle is a style of improvisation, with or without instrumental beats (Mystrodamus), in which lyrics are recited with no particular subject or structure and with no prior memorization.Kevin Fitzgerald (director), '' Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme' ...

, with no proper structure, finding Rod Wave employing a "straightforward" approach, rap-singing about his rising career and perseverance over a soft piano melody and "scintillating" drums.

Critical reception

Alex Zidel of ''HotNewHipHop'' gave the song a "VERY HOTTTTT" rating, and stated: "Hopping in the studio and blurting out whatever came to his mind, Wave managed to bring out more emotion than most people would have accomplished bringing a written verse to the studio".

AllHipHop AllHipHop is a hip hop news website founded by Greg Watkins and Chuck Creekmur in 1998. History The website was founded in 1998 by Greg Watkins and Chuck Creekmur. In 1997, Watkins registered the allhiphop.com domain to promote the artists on ...

opined that "sometimes there's no need to complicate things and in this case with Rod Wave, he's got a formula that works!" ''

HipHopDX ''HipHopDX'' is an online magazine of hip hop music criticism and news. The website's current president and publisher is Sharath Cherian and the Head Of Content is Jerry L. Barrow. ''HipHopDX'' is the flagship publication of Cheri Media Group. ...

''s Devon Jefferson named it one the hottest tracks of the week and praised how Rod Wave "exercises his vocal cords with some mental floss bars for the struggle".

Music video

The official video, directed by TRUFilms, was released on July 30, 2020, a day prior to the song's release. It sees Rod wave boasting his riches and flaunting his wealth. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

''s Heran Mamo noted how the visual "gives fans an exclusive peek of the millions of ways the bright rap rookie stacks his six million in cash, from on the bed of his tour bus to in the bathtub of his hotel room".

Charts

References

{{authority control 2020 singles 2020 songs Interscope Records singles Geffen Records singles Rod Wave songs Songs written by Rod Wave