A schoolgirl from the Irish rapper group who caused an internet meltdown with their “song of the summer” has said she is “shocked” at how much the song has blown up online.
‘The Spark’ was released earlier this month by Rhyme Island, a rap group made up of 30 children aged nine to 12 from the outskirts of Cork, and has since racked up at least eight million views.
The group was set up by non-profit creative hub Kabin Studio and government initiative Creative Ireland. As well as local artists, the song also features refugee children living in Lisdoonvarna, County Clare.
The children’s song has since appeared on social media websites such as TikTok and Instagram, with thousands of people making their own clips of the song and even joking that this should have been Ireland’s entry to Eurovision.
Sophia McNamara, 11, performs under the name Miss Sombrero and is one of the girls who sang on the track.
she told him Irish independent: ‘There are so many people watching it, I’m in shock, my brain is like “what!” Famous people have commented on it: it was unreal.’
Sophia McNamara, 11, performs under the name Miss Sombrero and is one of the girls who sang on the track (pictured)
Garry McCarthy, creative director at Kabin Studio, told the outlet: ‘We knew it was great and the video was stylish. We knew it would get some traction locally or nationally, but we weren’t expecting this. This is crazy.’
The two-and-a-half-minute music video, which sees children dancing on a bus, running through the streets and dancing in a club, begins with the cheeky lyrics: ‘Do you think you can stop what we do? I doubt it.’
The young performers later rap: ‘We’ve got the energy, we’ll tell you everything.’ I looked for my spark and found it.’
In the video, the children attended a rave-like stage and donned bucket hats, gold chains and colorful clothing while singing enthusiastically for the camera.
Sophia said they had a fog and bubble machine on site, The Pav, which has a huge stage. “We got ice cream in town and it was a wonderful day,” she said.
Talking about clothing options, the schoolgirl said she bought a white hat and enjoyed drawing on it with paint markers.
Sophia said they had a fog and bubble machine on site, The Pav, which has a huge stage.
She can be seen in the music video rapping the first verse, where she says, “Making hits at a young age, my pen setting the page on fire.”
She can be seen in the music video rapping the first verse, where she says, “Making hits at a young age, my pen setting the page on fire, I’ll show you how to rock on that stage.”
The music video, which was filmed in a single day, was released ahead of Ireland’s National Children’s Creativity Day on June 15, but became a surprise hit on social media.
After being picked up by local media, the music video caught the attention of author and Observer columnist Séamas O’Reilly, who shared it with his 97,000 followers.
He gushed: “Some Irish primary school kids made a song and there’s no legitimate reason for it to be so hard, holy shit.”
Since then, the author’s excellent review has racked up more than 75,000 likes and led to the video being shown to more than 8 million viewers.
“This should have been Ireland’s entry into Eurovision,” one fan responded. Another added: “Holy shit, I didn’t think there would ever be a day where I’d want the sound of a bunch of bratty kids screaming directly injected into my veins.”
A third gushed: ‘Sounds like a Dizzee Rascal song!’ Meanwhile, a fourth responded: “I pressed play hoping this was a joke and okay but WHAT ACTUALLY IS A STRANGER?!”
The music video, which was filmed in a single day, was released ahead of Ireland’s National Children’s Creativity Day on June 15.
Pictured: Spark’s music video. In the video, the children attended a rave-like stage and donned bucket hats, gold chains and colorful clothing while singing enthusiastically for the camera.
On TikTok, musician The shelter system He also called it the “song of the summer.”
speaking to The Guardian, producer Garry McCarthy said: ‘The response has been amazing. The energy and positivity of the children have inspired people. “It’s a really catchy song.”
The producer said the group got the idea for the song in March during one of the studio’s weekly workshops.
He explained how the children developed the verses and chorus during their Easter camp.
After being picked up by local media, the music video caught the attention of author and Observer columnist Séamas O’Reilly, who shared it with his 97,000 followers.
Since then, the author’s excellent review has racked up more than 75,000 likes and led to the video being shown to more than 8 million viewers.
The Kabin Studio team then took the song to the Lisdoonvarna refugee center where they finished it off with the young performers living there.
The producer revealed that the kids write songs every week at Kabin Studio, but The Spark “turned out to go a little further.”
Cruinniú na nÓg, which translates to ‘National Children’s Creativity Day’, will feature more than 1,000 free events for children and teenagers across Ireland on June 15.
