Port St. Lucie teens' Newt Gingrich rap strikes a chord with presidential candidates' secret service

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - A couple years ago, three 16-year-old boys met at Treasure Coast Christian Academy in Port St. Lucie. They all had dreams of making it big in the music world, so, naturally, they formed a rock/rap hybrid band. It's since disbanded, but in the past month, one of the trio's songs has gone viral. It's a rap song, written and recorded for Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich.

"Celebrating all day like it's a parade. Yeah, we got pro-life all up in the states. Ey. I messed up," Tyler Arcia, 19, rapped until he forgot the words. Then, he burst into laughter. "It's been a while since we heard the song. It's been almost a month. Right?" he asked James Johnson and Franklin Hurtado, both 18.

"We actually were all in a band when we were like 16 together," remembered Arcia, with a beaming smile.

"Gingrich taking over the streets," rapped Hurtado, taking his turn. "Conservative views is what we like to keep 'cause the world is lost, and so is the states, so I know Gingrich won't lead us astray."

The inspiration for the rap came from Johnson's mom Robin Johnson, the co-chair of the Port St. Lucie Newt Gingrich campaign. She suggested her son write the song as a way to show support for the presidential candidate

"I got to his house about 10:00 at night," Johnson recalled, pointing to Hurtado sitting next to him on a couch, "And we stayed up and wrote till like 2:00 a.m. Then we woke up the next morning at 8:00 and went to Tyler's house and recorded it."

At a Gingrich campaign stop last month, Robin Johnson played the song for the Secret Service. They liked it and had it played for the crowd before Gingrich appeared.

Since then, the song has played on various TV networks and shows. The teens didn't expect the popularity.

"It's just been crazy," said Johnson. "Took off from just nowhere. So, it's just been amazing."

The music men say the song and the experience has brought them closer, and the publicity hasn't been bad for Gingrich either.

"Goes a little something like this. N to the E to the W T," rapped Arcia. "Newt Gingrich taking over these streets. Is you ready for that?" he asked, through giggles.