Free Lyric

SHOWTIMES AT IFC CENTER

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 call-out 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 fifteen years since the freestyle went viral, so much has changed. The #MeToo movement casts a different shadow on her sexual experience as we explore if it was truly consensual, and songs like “WAP” by Cardi B and Meg Thee Stallion highlight how much women taking ownership of their sexuality is celebrated. Bringing together dramatisations, archive, and observational material as Niki attempts a comeback, the film challenges our assumptions and complicity in social media scandals.
  • Year 2026
  • Running Time 31 minutes
  • Distributor Field of Vision
  • Director Cherish ‘Chez’ Oteka
  • Accessibility Assistive Listening, T-Coil

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