Irish kids become internet sensations with drum ‘n’ bass rap banger ‘The Spark’ - News - Mixmag
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Irish kids become internet sensations with drum ‘n’ bass rap banger ‘The Spark’

The kids, aged between 9-12, created the track as part of the annual Irish celebration of youthful creativity, Cruinniú na nÓg

  • Words: Becky Buckle | Photo: The Kabin Studio
  • 23 May 2024
Irish kids become internet sensations with drum ‘n’ bass rap banger ‘The Spark’

A group of Irish children have enraptured social media users with their raucous drum 'n' bass rap track, ‘The Spark’.

Irish national broadcaster RTÉ debuted the track and its accompanying music video on Twitter last week (May 16), since then it has garnered over 8 million views on Twitter alone.

Produced by local artist GMCBeats, the certified drum 'n' bass banger was released alongside a music video showing the kids partying around Cork.

'The Spark' was created as a collaboration between the children of youth rap projects Lisdoonvarna Crew and Rhyme Island, both based in Knocknaheeny, a suburb of Cork.

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All of the children involved are local to Knocknaheeny, with one of the groups consisting of children living in refugee accommodation in the area.

‘The Spark’ was released on May 15 as part of the annual Irish celebration of youthful creativity, Cruinniú na nÓg. Taking place on June 15, Cruinniú na nÓg is a free day of creativity for young people in Ireland including over 1000 activities.

One of the rappers on the track, 10-year-old Dylan, told BBC Radio 4: "I came home and my mum was like, 'Dylan did you see that your video went viral?'”

He added: "Now I'm on the radio. This is what all those days of practice were leading up to, and it was worth it, to be honest."

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Creative director of the Kabin Studio, Garry McCarthy also told BBC Radio 4: "There's nothing false about it. These kids are being who they are, their natural selves, they're not trying to be anyone else, like you might see with other rappers starting out.

"It's very honest. It's very Irish, but it's very global."

He adds: "What they're talking about, I hope, inspires young people to express themselves and to just give music, give creativity, give expression a shot and just see how it feels, because expression and music are very, very powerful."

Check out the full music video to ‘The Spark’ below.

Becky Buckle is Mixmag's Multimedia Editor, follow her on Twitter

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