Meet Kim Cherry, ‘The Voice’ Contestant With Impressive Rapping Skills

The first round of Blind Auditions is halfway over on The Voice Season 16, and there have already been a handful of contestants who were able to turn all four of the coaches’ chairs. Monday evening’s premiere saw one particularly unique performance that blew the coaches away, despite only winning over Kelly Clarkson and Blake Shelton. By the end of her time on stage, 30-year-old Kim Cherry of Niceville, Florida had John Legend and Adam Levine wishing they had turned around.

To The Voice‘s die-hard fans, Cherry’s audition may have seemed a bit unusual right off the bat. While the show typically runs a segment about the contestant’s background and life at home before they take the stage, there was no introduction for Cherry. At-home viewers were as in the dark about the singer as the coaches. Moreover, the showrunners strategically avoided showing Cherry’s appearance until a coach turned their chair, keeping the stage lights down and showing only the coaches’ reactions on-screen.

Cherry sang TLC’s hit “No Scrubs,” Life & Style reported. Only hearing the first few notes, the coaches started to dance along in their seats as they listened. The coaches all appeared to be on the fence about pressing their buttons until Cherry pulled a game-changing move–she started rapping.

The twist immediately led Clarkson to turn her chair, shouting, “I have to!”

As the cover came to a close, Shelton decided to press his button at the last minute. As Shelton, Legend, and Levine joined Clarkson in facing the stage, their mouths dropped open.

“She’s white!” Legend exclaimed, earning a laugh from Levine.

“Sometimes you turn your chair around and you just don’t know.”

The four judges raved about Cherry’s bravery and talent. Levine thanked Cherry for choosing such a unique song, while Clarkson told Cherry she was “owning it.”

“You were the T, the L, and the C,” Legend said, according to Country Living.

“The fact that you chose that song shows me how fearless you are,” Shelton said.

“And your rapping was dope, okay?”

Shelton made a convincing case for why Cherry should join his team–it would be entirely unexpected. He joked that the world would never stop talking about a young female rapper joining a classic country star’s team. When the singer chose Shelton, he wrote on Twitter, “We did it! We broke the internet!”

Cherry already seems to be a social media favorite. Many Twitter users praised her rapping skills and stated that she is already their favorite.

Tune in to NBC at 8 p.m. on Tuesday to see the remainder of the first round of Blind Auditions. In the meantime, watch Cherry’s show-stopping performance below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ey3CdREfvug