DJ Jonjay - Freestyle MixX Tape

Freestyle is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in the United States in the 1980s. It experienced its greatest popularity from the late 1980s until the early 1990s. It continues to be produced today and enjoys some degree of popularity, especially in urban settings. A common theme of freestyle lyricism is heartbreak in the city.^[1]

Notable performers in the freestyle genre include Stevie B, Corina, Timmy T, George Lamond, TKA, Noel, Company B, Exposé, the Cover Girls, Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam, Information Society, Pretty Poison, Sa-Fire, Shannon, Coro, Lisette Melendez, Judy Torres, Rockell, and many others. The music was largely made popular on radio stations such as WKTU in New York City.

Freestyle music developed primarily in the impoverished Latin communities of Upper Manhattan and The Bronx in the early 1980s, later spreading throughout New York's five boroughs and into New Jersey. Freestyle's Top 40 Radio airplay started to really take off by 1987, and it began to disappear from the airwaves in the early 1990s^[3] as radio stations moved to Top 40-only formats. Artists such as George Lamond, Exposé, Sweet Sensation and Stevie B were still heard on mainstream radio. 

In the modern day, freestyle music continues a thriving fanbase all across the country.^[6] In cities like New York, recent concerts by freestyle artists have been extremely successful, with many events selling out.