A group of young Irish people have caused a crisis on the Internet with their “song of the summer”, which has accumulated more than 8 million views in one week.
‘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.
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 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.’
Pictured: The music video for Rhyme Island’s The Spark shows 30 children dancing on a double-decker bus.
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 tune 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 be a day when I’d want to inject the sound of a bunch of bratty kids screaming directly 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 two and a half minute music video shows children dancing on a bus, running through the streets and dancing in a club.
Pictured: Spark’s music video. The song was released ahead of Ireland’s National Children’s Creativity Day on June 15.
On TikTok, musician The shelter system He also called it the “song of the summer.”
speaking to The GuardianProducer Garry McCarthy said: ‘The response has been amazing.
‘The energy and positivity of the children has 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.