‘Touch mic and shell it!’ How British freestyle rap videos became a global phenomenon | Music
A bright afternoon has turned a foreboding shade of grey. The rain picked up a few moments ago, just as cameraman Barry Edmunds was negotiating an awkward set of steps, backwards, trying to squeeze Kairo Keyz and eight of his gesticulating friends into the frame. “Welcome to the glamorous world of freestyles!” Edmunds’ long-time creative partner Tim Chave had joked when this shoot had been postponed for a third time, and in the drizzle his words feel prescient.We’re on a postwar housing estate in Norwood, south London,…