It’s a Saturday afternoon, but the dim lights inside the small room at Newtown’s Bassline make it feel like midnight. On stage Mak Manaka is reciting his spoken word to the coos and “yeah, yeahs” of the young intellectuals gathered for their weekly poetry pilgrimage.

Young women with dreadlocks and young men wearing Malcolm X glasses and backpacks lounge around in affected poses while hanging on to every meaning of every word coming from the stage.

It takes me back to the days of my attempts at attending poetry sessions and I have the same feeling I had then – a feeling of cynicism while trying very hard not to run out of patience. The thing is, Manaka is da bomb, but like jazz, I have trouble with my aura adjusting to the spoken word.

He leaves the stage to great applause. There is a break before it is time for Antonio Lyons.

He has just released an album that uses house music and some cool jives as a background to his phenomenal storytelling.

This American has made a home for himself as an actor and sort of musician/entertainer since his arrival here in 2002. He came for a holiday and fell in love with our country.

His acting repertoire includes Hotel Rwanda and The Practice in the US. In South Africa we know him for his stints in Generations, Scandal, Snitch and Home Affairs. His most terrifying role was in American History X where he was the guy who got pavement-crunched by some Hitler-worshipping rightwingers. They made him open his mouth, bite the curb and then stomped on the back of his head. Charming.

Now, more than a decade later, this gorgeous, tall man has released his second album, We Dance, We Pray. It is a musically diverse dance-floor experience brought to life by his unique storytelling.

On this Saturday afternoon he is here to perform tracks from that album and others. He greets me warmly, with a soul-embracing hug followed by his even warmer smile, his mischievous eyes looking straight into the soul.

On stage he is even more beautiful. He begins with a dance, having invited the audience to chant along. His stories range from a tale of a son’s love for his father to a tale of immediate seduction.

His stage presence is magnetic, his lyrics spellbounding. He needs to share this talent with the world, it’s that beautiful, that important.

Unfortunately, he has left for the US to complete his Master’s in applied theatre, but will be back in the country in December.

“I will be doing gigs in Durban and Cape Town in December,” he assures me.

We first noticed him as a musician with his track Nite Fever, produced by Craig Massiv and Troye Lilley of Soul Khula. It featured Tamara Dey on vocals and introduced us to his distinctive style of poetic house and smooth vocals.

He then worked with DJs such as Mbuso, Fresh, Euphonik and the jazz musician Musa Manzini.

“With We Dance, We Pray, I have made my storytelling more specific, which makes it more personal for the listener.” This is amply demonstrated in songs such as Mama Papa and Lonely Road.

The album features Nkoto Malebye of Kwani Experience as well as poet Lebo Mashile.

His lyrics also deal with social issues as does his interest in theatre.

“These are tools to engage with men directly around gender issues and violence. My goal is to unpack the thought behind those actions. We have a patriarchal society with 40 percent unemployment. How do you define yourself as a man in these conditions?”

Yet by fusing socio-politically aware words and love songs with jazzy house, where does he fit in within the South African music industry, which is fast becoming as facile as a popcorn machine?

“I am starting to understand the space I occupy within the music industry.”

This includes playing with a live band and using viral campaigns to advertise gigs. This in turn means that he is cultivating an underground following within a specific group of people.

Hopefully this will spread to larger parts of the music industry and poetry lovers discovering the talent known as Antonio Lyons. We dance. We pray.