Makonnen is overseas for his headlining set at Born & Bred 2016 in Haggerston Park, which celebrates the present and future sounds of London. Over the weekend, the Atlanta rapper/singer stopped by Tim Westwood’s studio for an interview and freestyle session.
Let’s talk about this freestyle, though. Makonnen is one of the rare artists to go completely off the top without any preparation. He raps over Future’s “Where Ya At,” “I’m the Plug,” and “Jumpman,” addressing rumors of getting dropped from OVO Sound, weight loss, and other topics. Overall, there were some dope lines—and some questionable ones. A few examples:
Makonnen must have seen the harassment he was getting on social media, so he responded on Twitter with a few words of his own:
In another video, Makonnen did an interview with Westwood, where he shared how Mike WiLL Made-It brought him and Gucci Mane together. The two recently collaborated on “Take It Easy” off Breakfast.
“I’ve still have yet to meet Gucci Mane in person, but he’s just a big influence down there. He knew all the producers and stuff. When he was away, I made a lot of relationships with a lot of producers down there. Me, I’m reminded of him and the work ethic. I can’t wait to meet him and hopefully we knock out an album or two,” he says.
They also talk about the influence of Guwop, his 14-minute freestyle detailing his mental health issues, depression, losing a close friend, and more. Watch it, below:
