Free Lyric

Reliving one of the first viral social media moments in rap culture, when a 17-year-old female rapper’s life was turned upside down by admitting to having an orgy, Free Lyric explores the experience of online callout culture, gender and consent.

With the rise of social media as the backdrop, this film follows the journey of a young woman named Niki, who was cancelled before being cancelled was a thing, and how she survived a sex scandal.

Told as an unfolding narrative, Free Lyric reconstructs the investigation of digital sleuths as they worked to reveal the identity of the girl behind the sexcapade and troll her.

In the 15 years since the freestyle went viral, so much has changed. The #MeToo movement casts a different shadow on her sexual experience as we explore whether it was truly consensual. Songs like “WAP” by Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion highlight how much women taking ownership of their sexuality is celebrated.

Bringing together dramatizations, archive and observational material as Niki attempts a comeback, the film challenges our assumptions and complicity in social media scandals.