Rock the Mic Winners Announced!

The top 10 finalists put on a tremendous performance at the Rock the Mic:  Artists Against Violence event on Tuesday, July 24.   There was so much energy in the theatre and they really put on a professional show.  These young people impressed the entire audience on the way they handled themselves and supported each other during the performances.  They sat together all on their own and cheered each other on.  It was wonderful.

The top 3 winners are:  

Annie Wildgen, 1st place winner is 19 years old, attends Grand Valley State University and grew up in Grandville. She loves music and has been singing her whole life.   Anne started to write her own songs when she was 17.

Steven Malcolm, 2nd place winner,  is 21 and is a Christian rapper and started rapping at age 14.  He attends Grand Rapids Community College.  Steven likes to watch power rangers on Netflix.  His favorite thing to do is to worship God and fellowship with people.

Kaee Skwair (Dominque Gordon), 3rd place winner, is 21 and attends Grand Rapids Community College.  She has been writing rap since she was in 9th grade.  She is a professional amateur basketball player and likes drawing graffiti. (Picture courtesy of Stellafly Social Media)

Silent Observer launched this project knowing that there was no better way to get an anti-violence message across to young people then to provide young people the opportunity to share that important message with their peers.   Many great original songs were submitted for our competition but their musical abilities and their lyrics gave them the upper hand in this competition.  We are appreciative of their willingness to speak out against crime and our hope that these top 10 finalists will influence a positive change of ideas among the youth in our community. 

The Top 10 finalists and their original songs can be found at youtube.com/user/RockTheMicSO/videos.  They are:

• Adrian Hirsch & Jesse Warner (illenough)                       People Get Together
• Anne Wildgen (Annie Wildgen)                                            Stand Strong
• Carlos Padilla (Carlito)                                                     Stop the Violence
• Chris Sanders (God Son)                                                 Lead by Example
• Dominque Gordan (Kaee Skwair)                                     Brothas N Sistas
• Yamani Vinson (Mani V)                                                     We Will All Succeed
• Nick Nevseta (Nevseta)                                                    It Takes One Call
• Steven Malcom (Steven Truth Malcolm)                                     Stand
• Talitha Hankins (Kumi Hankins)                                              In My Head
• Tony Carmody (TC the SilentNoise)                                        Your Voice

These are very special young people with a message that MUST be heard!  Silent Observer will do everything it can to get this music out to young people in the community.  If you can help, please email us at info@silentobserver.org.

The Judges of the event were from L to R:  Gravy with Hot FM, Emily Loeks from Celebration! Cinemas, John Gonzo Gonzales from MLive Media Group & Mark Morsfield from WJRW.  They all admitted it was very difficult to determine the top three winners because of the quality of the musicians that performed that night. Silent Observer thanks them for their participation and support.  Laura Velasquez from WOOD TV did a great job as emcee that night. (Picture courtesy of Stellafly Social Media)

Rock the Mic was sponsored in part by:

Other sponsors include:

• River City Studios
• DK Security
• Crystal Flash Energy
• Spartan Stores
• West Michigan Crime Prevention Association
• TDS Metrocom
• Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce
• Midstate Security

For more information
please call 616-454-9110 or email info@silentobserver.org