The Hits: Rap battle challenge

Sarah and Martin from The Hits

It's not very often we play rap on The Hits, but Monday was an exception. Not only did we play rap, but listeners of the show were treated (we use that term loosely) to a live rap performance.

The challenge was laid down on Friday when Sarah was talking about how much she loves the new Macklemore song, Downtown. Our promo girl Hena was in the studio with us at the time and stated that if she were to learn the words, she could totally take Sarah down in a rap battle. And it was on.

With just one weekend to learn the lyrics, Hena was instructed to be in the studio at 8am Monday for the battle to end all battles.

While Sarah and Hena learned the words to their new fav song, Martin was charged with coming up with their rap names.

Monday morning rolled around and who rolled into the studio but MC Henski, dressed in a leather jacket and cap, ready to take on Seezus, who was sporting a sideways cap, baggy jeans and a puffer vest.

Martin alerted them to the fact they looked more like confused members of an 80s boy band than rappers, but the girls were not deterred.

After some last-minute practise, the mics were on, backing music was playing and Seezus and MC Henski showed off their rapping skills to Hawke's Bay. Or their lack of rapping skills. Jenny texted fairly soon after they'd started saying, "Dear God, please make this stop." A sentiment Martin is sure was shared by many.

After three minutes of showing off their rapping skills, the girls were chuffed with their performance and it was up to the public to vote for who they thought did the best job.

A flurry of texts came through (not just votes, but some constructive and not so constructive criticism as well) and after all votes were tallied, it was a tie. So it was up to Martin to decide who deserved the title of Rap Goddess. He said that if it was down to the dancing, MC Henski would have taken it out, but as it was more about the lyrics and he had to work in a small windowless room with Sarah every single day, and she could be quite frightening, he declared Seezus the winner.

See if you agree, and check out the skills of two white girls rapping at www.thehits.co.nz/martinandsarah.