The Cork kids viral song is finally going on streaming services today.
‘The Spark’ is a D&B tune produced by Kabin Crew, a group of children in the youth music and creative space The Kabin supported by Music Generation Cork City and run by producer GMC with additional raps from Lisdoonvarna Crew, another group of children from a direct provision centre for asylum seekers.
The song took offline in recent weeks because it slaps so hard.
It was originally written for Cruinniú na nÓg, the Irish government-sponsored day devoted to children’s creativity Creative Ireland.
It immediately took off via a tweet on X, and is now being praised as a contender for song of the summer, reaching 350 million views on TikTok and 3.2 million views on YouTube to date.
✨🎵 “I searched for my spark and I found it” ✨🎵
— RTÉ (@rte) May 16, 2024
Cruinniú na nÓg, Europe’s only national free day of creativity for young people is back, with over 1,000 free activities, taking place on Saturday, June 15. 🎉#CruinniuNaNog – an initiative of @creativeirl, supported by @rte pic.twitter.com/jTejJdfeIF
As a result of subsequent coverage, including a NY Times piece, the song is getting a proper release this Thursday June 13th through Irish label Rubyworks and 95.
“The response has been amazing,” said Garry McCarthy (GMCBeats). “The kids’ energy and positivity have inspired people worldwide. It’s been all over TikTok especially. It’s bonkers, we’ve never seen something like this!”
It’s not the first time that the Cork kids music and creative space Kabin have put together a viral hit, after their 2020 track ‘Ya Boy’ took off.
Regarding the creation of “The Spark”, Garry explains :
“During one of our weekly rap workshops with the kids, we were looking for something upbeat to bring up the energy and found a PapaPedro-produced drum n bass beat online, and instantly started coming up with the initial chants and chorus ideas.”
Garry also said that The Kabin Studio is running an outreach initiative called “Rhyme Island” funded by Creative Ireland as part of the lead up to Cruinniú na nÓg (The Gathering of Youth), Ireland’s national day of celebrating children’s creativity, “where we basically bring the work that we do at the Kabin Studio to youth groups, schools and direct provision centres around the island of Ireland. We had been tasked with creating an anthem for this initiative so we decided to use this new track as the anthem and focus the lyrics on finding the creative spark within us”.
All the children are between 9 and 12 and take turns rapping and dancing in the video shot by Seán Downey aka SwanIGuess, a videographer, who, as a teenager, attended workshops lead by Garry McCarthy, and is now part of the tutor team at the Kabin. Everything was filmed in one day at the Kabin, on the top-deck of the 202 Bus and the Pavilion Music Venue.
“We’re doing stuff like this all the time,” said GMC. “New songs every week with the team of talented and caring tutors and volunteers at The Kabin. This one just happened to go a little bit further. We hope that the success of this will help to secure the Kabin Studio’s future, support the wider group of young people that we work with and allow us to deliver more outreach projects for kids with fewer opportunities.”
The chorus and first verse of the track were recorded during an Easter camp at the Kabin Studio and the second verse was recorded at a Rhyme Island outreach workshop day at a direct provision centre for asylum seekers in Lisdoonvarna. The team at the Kabin Studio decided to get both groups collaborating as their energy, enthusiasm and performance abilities were on par with each other. Young people from Kabin Crew have featured 4 times, and the Lisdoonvarna Crew once, as performers on the annual Late Late Toy Show, often the most-watched programme of the year on Irish television. Both Sophia from Kabin Crew and the young people from Lisdoonvarna Crew featured in 2023.
Since its initial release, “The Spark” has amassed over 350 million views on platforms such as X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok. Users have been enthusiastically sharing and dancing along to the track, further fueling its popularity.
Kabin Crew feat. Lisdoonvarna Crew – “The Spark” Lyrics
Chorus
Ella & others (with Brooke on adlibs):
Think you can stop what we do, I doubt it (Doubt it!)
We got the energy, we’ll tell you all about it (Bout it!)
I searched for my spark and I found it (Found it!)
Everybody in the crowd start bouncing
David & others (with Brooke on adlibs):
Think you can stop what we do, I doubt it (Doubt it!)
We got the energy, we’ll tell you all about it (Bout it!)
I searched for my spark and I found it (Found it!)
Everybody in the crowd start bouncing
Verse 1
Kabin Crew
Sophia (with Brooke on adlibs):
Making bangers at a young age (Bangers!)
My pen setting fire to the page (Fire!)
I will show you how to rock that stage
Listen to this in the car you’ll be getting road rage (🚗)
Heidi (with Brooke on adlibs):
Listen up ‘cos what we do everyday is daycent (Daycent!)
Kabin Crew won’t stop on top of every playlist (Boom!)
If we see a dream you know we’re gonna chase it (Yeah!)
So get over any fear you have just face it (Go on kid!)
Dylan:
That’s my passion and I couldn’t live without it (No!)
You can do it like we do it, don’t doubt it (Go!)
Any obstacle we find a way around it
If you’re proud of who you are and what you do, shout it!
Chorus
Martin & others (with Brooke on adlibs):
Think you can stop what we do, I doubt it (Doubt it!)
We got the energy, we’ll tell you all about it (Bout it!)
I searched for my spark and I found it (Found it!)
Everybody in the crowd start bouncing
Zoe, Pearl & others (with Brooke on adlibs):
Think you can stop what we do, I doubt it (Doubt it!)
We got the energy, we’ll tell you all about it (Bout it!)
I searched for my spark and I found it (Found it!)
Everybody in the crowd start bouncing
Verse 2
Lisdoonvarna Crew (with Zoe on adlibs)
Treasure
Grooving through my town,people be like who are they? (Who?)
Moving to my music yeah that gets me through the day (woo!)
Mercy
I create my own way feeling super slay (Slay)
Express my art that’s how i communicate
Elene
In my imagination, never feeling out of place (No!)
Blast off like a rocket up to outer space (Zoom!)
Tuana
Living large reaching for the stars
Let them all know us kids are in charge! (That’s right!)
Trinity
Feeling awesome anytime I rap (When I rap!)
Thoughts blossom when I’m on a track
Kada
Spittin bars top class full of energy no cap (No cap!)
Ahmed
Cruinniú na nÓg Rhyme Islands on the map (fact!)
Chorus
All:
Think u can stop what we do i doubt it (Doubt it)
We got the energy we’ll tell ya all about it (Bout it)
I searched for my spark and i found it (Found it)
Everybody in the crowd start bouncin
Think u can stop what we do i doubt it (Doubt it)
We got the energy we’ll tell ya all about it (Bout it)
I searched for my spark and i found it (Found it)
Everybody in the crowd start bouncin
