13 episodes, 13 winning voices, one compilation album.
This is the playlist of SABC1's new reality music show One Mic.
It premieres on Thursday, 11 May at 18h00 and it's a search for spontaneously savvy hip hop lyricists, spoken word poets and rappers who perform to win, AKA it's similar in concept to Vuzu Amp's The Hustle.
TVSA caught up with One Mic director Lesedi Ramafoko who gave us exclusive inside access as a sneak peek...
Lesedi did his high schooling at the National School of the Arts and directed the last two seasons of Jika Majika.
Lesedi told us that One Mic has been in the making for seven years. It's produced by Thabo Mphelo of TMF Productions and was pitched to the SABC in 2010 but was only commissioned at the end of last year.
The format
Each week four MCs compete against each other in a two round knockout battle. In the first round they're given a word and they have to spontaneously improvise a rap/poem/hip hop performance around it. They do this with a beat - and without a beat.
The judges choose the two best MCs who move on to the second round where they perform their own track in a battle to win the episode.
The judges
Aewon Wolf, Pro and Big Zulu.
The prize
The winners of each episode will have one track produced by DJ's Sliqe and Tweezy so that they have a professional demo which they can use to advance their careers. Each of these tracks will be featured on a compilation album featuring all 13 winners which will be released once the show ends.
The host
DJ Doowap, the lipstick lovin' rose among the thorns.
One of three girls on the show. There are only two girls competing across the 13 episodes.
Word from Lesedi is that very few girls auditioned for the show.
Don't Try this at home
So what does it take to improvise rap or beat out a song? Click the spoiler tags below to reveal the words behind them and use the words as inspiration to spontaneously create your own lyrics that rhyme:
Friday
Cocktails
People