Rapper Thuggizzle Delivers on 'The Definition of Freestyle'

Freestyle rap is a popular style of improvisation in hip hop where emcees spit with or without instrumental beats. In the early days, somebody might do beatbox or use their fists and hands as accompaniment. Back in the day, a rapper that couldn't freestyle had no real street cred. The pressure to be able to engage in a spontaneous freestyle encouraged some rappers to memorize some lyrics and bars beforehand and present it as freestyle since they were being recited with no particular subject, structure. But the true art of freestyling is delivering lyrics that are created on the spot with no prior memorization. Hip Hop emcee and lyricist, Thuggizzle is one of the rare rappers who masters this art. When Thuggizzle freestyles, he's coming right off the head ...no prior planning. A lot of times, he doesn't even know what the beat will be.

"Today, a lot of artist say that they freestyle but they mean writing free of style," says the rapper. Born Phillip Hodge, and raised around instability and neglect, his survival skills were his rhymes; he always had a unique ability to compose spontaneous poetry. His mother sold drugs, and he and his three sisters grew up in and out of foster care. They were made wards of the state when Hodge was 9 years old. He said his acting out led to him being placed on a number of medications. He felt pigeonholed and was on the verge of living life on the streets. But his story didn't end there. In San Antonio, Texas, Hodge developed a career in music as a rapper known as Thuggizzle.

As an artist, he has never wrote a rhyme. He prides himself in rhyming “off the dome”, a gift he describes as "the most prized skill in rapping, the ability to think of clever, intricate rhymes on the spot, often in competition with another rapper, and while in front of a crowd."

"So if I slowed down to mellow, would you keep up"

He recently released an album entitled "Definition of a Freestyle". The album has an underground, live from the basement energy. His rap flow switches up, showing off his versatility as an emcee. The lyrical content on each track is unique and us complimented with classic rap type beats. Thuggizzle is a Texas native, but his hard hitting bars give off an East Coast swag.

One of the most popular songs on the project is Get Cha Hustle Up. The track has garnered over 120K streams on Spotify. On the track he raps, "I see the Seagrams and my gin is the in; and anything that I spit is off the dome with no pen." Some of the other album standouts include Switch to That Course, Can't Leave Rap Alone, and Feel the Flow.

His ingenuity is not limited to the mic. He's an entrepreneur who created his own Alkaline 9.5+ PH water. And this week, he's also launching a new pure spring water which is bottled in recyclable aluminum cans. It's no wonder why this dude is loved by so many people!