Freestyling is a skill. It's also a practice tool by which you can develop your rhythm and vocal delivery. Sure, it also develops your ability to think on your feet, but that only really comes in handy when you're... freestyling.
I see a lot of emcees, especially novices that focus almost exclusively on writing, but when it comes to delivery it's ends up being all off. I also see a lot of emcees who can aesthetically deliver, but really have not much to say. Surprisingly, I prefer the latter. That's probably why I continue to defend Weezy.
People neglect that, even in hip hop, the voice is an instrument and there should be some soul and swagger to it. It's not all tongue twisters on a breakbeat. You can't judge everything on lyrical dexterity. That's the equivalent of judging a guitarist on how fast they play. The best emcees show a balance between the ability to write and to deliver really well vocally, so I believe that both are equally important and both take time to develop.
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