SOUTH LYON, Mich. – What sprung out of an elementary school assignment at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic seems to have turned into a family tradition.
The Klemmer family of South Lyon went viral last year when they shared original rap videos on dad Bobby’s Facebook page. They wrote songs about being in quarantine, encouraging people to vote, a Christmas rap and a tribute to health care workers, which has more than 32,000 views.
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They just released a new Christmas rap featuring their four oldest children, who helped Bobby write the lyrics.
He said since life has somewhat returned to normal he wasn’t sure if they would have the time to put together another video.
Read: Local family’s Facebook rap videos bring joy during pandemic
“We had a two-hour window one day to do the video and the kids nailed it,” said Klemmer. “With my young one, she’s six. It’s the first time where she’s had lines.”
And she delivers them with perfectly timed precision.
Klemmer said their new Christmas rap has been viewed more than 10,000 times.
As for the process, Klemmer shared that he finds fun instrumentals online and then writes lyrics to go along with them. The family had written their 2021 Christmas song a month prior to filming, and Klemmer said the kids would practice singing it while getting ready for school in the morning.
He said even two-year-old Eliza would start chiming in, but when it came time to film she had a case of the wiggles.
“Of course we go to make the video and she could not sit still for three seconds,” said Klemmer.
Another video they created last year was in tribute to teachers.
“The reason we got into it is we were just trying to pick people up,” he said. “People need something positive in their newsfeeds.”
He said he has received messages from people all around the country about his uplifting videos, and was even contacted by a major national talk show. Though the challenge of increasingly busy schedules means less time to commit to the project, Klemmer said they haven’t ruled out an annual video completely.
“For this to become our annual Christmas card, that would be pretty cool,” said Klemmer. “We’ll see what happens as the kids get older.”