Music

Marty Grimes’ tips for expressing your true, honest self through freestyle

Watch the Marty Grimes episode of Red Bull 60 Second Freestyle.

By Adesh Thapliyal

3 min readPublished on 01/27/2022 · 4:48 PM UTC

Marty Grimes has a reputation as a formidable live performer — on stage, he’s casual, quick on his feet and infectiously energetic.

“I can talk about fucking performing all day. That’s my shit,” says Grimes over video call. While he’s always been a fan of the rap battle scene, Grimes’ improvisatory skills were mostly honed through his concerts and gigs, where he would incorporate freestyles to get the crowd hyped and moving.

Grimes’ appearance on Red Bull 60 Second Freestyle shows off his signature style: he confidently switches up his flow every couple of bars as he spits stream-of-conscious lyrics that indulge his love for Teslas, East Bay iconography and the always-hustling lifestyle. If Grimes wants to convey something about freestyle to the newly initiated it’s this: conveying a sense of who you are is priority number one. Here’s how Grimes gets there, in his words.

Dance to the beat of your own drum

The advice I would give someone is to never put themselves in a box musically or lyrically. Never worry about another person's opinion. And I would say now with the sensitivity of 2021, I wouldn't even care what other people think. I would just do me and let the right people take to your music. And that's who all matter. Period.

I just value being yourself. I can respect and appreciate that a thousand times more than somebody that's trying to fit in or trying to be weird and are not themselves. I think that's just being from the Bay. We pride ourselves on being ourselves

Don’t be afraid to get real

Of course, we rappers are going to talk about money and cars, clothes and hoes, but at the same time, maybe we talk about some real shit too. I love that. I can appreciate the substance first. We all want to party and want to have that music that we don't got to think about, but the majority of the time I'm thinking. So I like to have some music that actually takes me somewhere, or makes me think about something or realize something.

Follow the vibe

To get in the zone, I like to burn one. I just smoke and chill beforehand trying to empty my mind, not even think about nothing, so whatever beat plays, I could just come fresh and go off, you know?

When I’m freestyling off the dome, I just smoke one and go. Whatever comes, comes: whatever the beat makes me feel like, whatever I’m either going through at the moment, who I’m with, or whatever the vibe is, is usually the subject matter.

Always shout out where you came from

It's always important because you can never forget where you came from, because that's who molded you and who you are. Even though you might have left at a certain time and this new place helps you become a better person, you still got to remember that place that helped you start it.

I love home. I only moved away to make better business moves. I'm back home every chance I get.