(AllHipHop News) Back in 2014, Slaughterhouse rapper Kxng Crooked, radio/TV host Sway Calloway, The Wake Up Show‘s DJ King Tech, and SMH Records CEO Mike Smith announced they were teaming up together to launch the new rap competition television series One Shot. A year and a half later the program appears to be ready to arrive.

[ALSO READ: EXCLUSIVE: Kxng Crooked Talks Collaborating With Statik Selektah, Modern Hip Hop Beef & Not Selling His Soul]

“I’ve just been negotiating with different networks. Now I got a home for it, so it’ll probably be out this summer,” Crooked tells AllHipHop.com. “It’s like an American Idol for strictly Hip Hop. We go out to different cities to find the next Hip Hop star.”

Among the locales that hosted a One Shot audition was the southern Hip Hop hub of Atlanta. According to the Long Beach emcee, Georgia’s capital was a hotbed for performers with bars.

“We did an episode in Atlanta, like 2,500 rappers came out. The line was ridiculous. There were all types of different styles,” states Crooked. “Dudes were spitting some hard sh*t. Females were spitting some dope sh*t.”

While a large section of mainstream rap focuses more on melodies and hooks than content and creativity, Crooked believes the rising voices of the genre are presenting music based on lyrics. One half of the recently formed Statik KXNG duo (with Statik Selektah) is hoping the underground movement brings about a major shift in the direction of modern-day Hip Hop.

“I went to like 5 or 6 different cities filming this show. I was able to see on the ground, in the trenches, how many talented emcees are out there nationwide that would blow your mind,” he adds. “There were real Hip Hop culture representers, real lyricists. It’s that time. We just got to fight that war on every front.”

Kxng Crooked & Statik Selektah’s Statik KXNG album is available now on iTunes.