Grand Rapids, MI (NPR Tiny Desk Submission 2026)

Our official Tiny Desk Concert Submission! Shot / Edited by Mock Visuals Engineered / Mixed by Dante Cope Lead Vocalists: Sonny Ski, Gwopped Up $peedy, TETRA444 Drums: Orlando James Bass: Kamyle Jackson Keys: Rodney Rhodes Additional Keys: Joseph Botwinski Location: Grammotones Original version of song produced by Emani Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0LcsRRzcqKENXUU1GGRaM4 Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/sonny-ski/1491303484 Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/sonnyski Twitter: https://twitter.com/sonnyski616 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sonnyski616/ Snapchat: jamesonblts Lyrics: [Hook: TETRA444] Oh I said welcome to GR This the city that we from Ain’t no telling what we on I said welcome to GR Where the talent and the love raw And the rivers flow on and on This the city that we from I said welcome to GR [Verse 1: Sonny Ski] Yeah, my vocation is to bridge the gap So it’s no coincidence I’s born where them bridges is at Let me bring you back, May 20, ‘99, 9am I was bred from Butterworth C-section, I left my Mother stomach hurt, her Gut intuition had mixed with my Dad’s ambition Grand Rapids, Michigan was the conception of they second kid And during they first one they resided on Thomas, but let them tell the shit Barrages of bullets in they backyard had kept them hesitant To raise their second kid in it, 49507 shit I guess I was born to be a leader cause our water got lead in it Had to play a part in it, Regency Park Apartments when I was a baby, one year later my sister was born and Garfield been My stomping grounds since that day My side is south where blickies spray An Alger child wasn’t my thing A sheltered house, innocent brain Still heard the sound seconds away East side of town where hippies hang West, keep your children safe Shouts the North, enjoy your stay [Hook: TETRA444] Oh I said welcome to GR This the city that we from Ain’t no telling what we on I said welcome to GR Where the talent and the love raw And the rivers flow on and on This the city that we from I said welcome to GR [Verse 2: Sonny Ski] I’m riding down Division trying to unify you and I I’m cruising by where they sell coochie, my deuces high But one time for my Rapid riders, to you I rap and write this My Woodland Mall-ers, John Ball-ers, parties with Ally Lyons Alley cats scratching vinyls, where gold is what the drive is Potholes will leak your tires, wheelies the kids are popping So feel me as I’m flying, 131 zooming North Yeah we from GR but the chicken is from New York You hear the grease? We going to need to release on Wayne beat We was getting fried at Lookout till we can’t see Van Andel Dreams I can’t sleep Skyline in horizon, my eyes all on the prize but in GR Art is the prize man Got murals that compete, and some murals of deceased And that winter freeze approaching I pray your okay without heat And those Griffin seats are open just don’t get slid on for free And this Mitten Ties I’m wearing bruh should’ve let you know just where I’m from I’m from a city where Mothers will tell their sons their Mayweather’s kids And the colors on a ball tell you what today’s weather is It’s getting windier soon as degrees raise Cause everybody airing shit out, I pray the breeze change GRPD behave Some want to bring back Chief Payne and others bring that chief pain We from a city with bridges, cross us is blasphemy Grand Rapids, Gun Rue, some say Grand Raggedy [Verse 3: Gwopped Up $peedy] I got a union with my brothers to get wealthy Hung with killers that will hide a body like a fat chick who took a selfie I know some Bemis cats who love to get they pockets fuller Like Floyd I blow the competition out like nose boogers Like Butterworth Hospital, I’m working on my patience Street beef is tasteless, hood politics cause a division over Franklins Went to Designer Diamonds for that GR gold We the best go check the rankings A boss living that up life, I got Mitten ties Gifted like a Christmas drive, they can’t break my pride Refuse to be stigmatized All about my chicken, I spread it out like crack seasoning on my wings and fries Justice for Patrick, middle fingers to the racist police that we despise All my straps legalized Just left silver bullet, target practice is a must When I was a kid Adina Howard was my biggest crush Been balling with my brothers like Harden and Russ They knew I been having motion like the Rapid bus They in my business like interrogations No pyramid schemes involved when it comes to this elevation Gwopped Up, we the realest, we the hardest And the family run deep like the Debarges More than a local artist, If I eat we all eat Turn a desert to a harvest this legacy can’t be tarnished 616 #npr #tinydesk #tinydeskcontest