Chips! Maggz does a taste test

RAPPER Maggz - real name Gift Magubane - is no stranger to long days in the studio, followed by long nights spent on stage entertaining faithful fans.

RAPPER Maggz - real name Gift Magubane - is no stranger to long days in the studio, followed by long nights spent on stage entertaining faithful fans.

Many are unaware that his hip-hop career began over a decade ago in 1996 while he was studying at the National School of the Arts.

Since then it has been a hectic schedule of what he sums up as "hustling" - countrywide tours and marathon studio sessions to complete his mixtape Sorry for the Long Wait and his first album The Breakout.

One would think that this tiring schedule leaves little room for sumptuous home-cooked meals, but the rapper is adamant that, in fact, it has taught him to appreciate home-cooked meals.

"I have had far too much junk food in the past. I'm now a rice and pap kind of guy.

"I could never marry a woman who can't cook - she has to be able to prepare good food."

With that said, he's not too excited to try out the first batch of fried chips from Nando's.

"They are too dry and chewy. But it's good that they're not oily."

The second contender is a pack of fried chips from Wimpy.

"These are a bit softer and they are also not too oily. They are hard on the outside and soft inside, like sweets. One box of these would definitely get you full."

The third batch of chips, from Anat, makes him feel nostalgic about his home in Pimville.

"These look good. They remind me of 'hood chips that we used to eat with bunny chows and vetkoeks. They are far too oily, though."

But it's love at first sight for Maggz and KFC.

"This packaging is good because it has holes that let the chips breathe, which helps keep them fresh - if the chips don't breathe they get wet and soggy, and that's not good."

"We have a winner! These also have a nice spice added to them; it's not just salt.

"We need variety now," he says with a smile.

Helping himself to more, he explains. "They are not too crunchy, they're not too oily, they're not too soft, and they're not too hard.

"These are the perfect chips."

Maggz has been converted into a chip lover. - Keitumetse Segoai