A drum 'n' bass track featuring a group of Irish kids has been longlisted for two Grammy Awards.
Released in May, The Spark soon went viral on social media and has since been featured in BBC News, The Guardian and The New York Times and racked up six million views on YouTube; a level of success this group of children, aged between nine and twelve, surely never expected. Now, the track has been longlisted for two Grammy awards: Song of the Year and Best Dance/Electronic Recording.
The Spark was created by Rhyme Island, a youth rap project based at the non-profit Kabin Studio in Knocknaheeny, Ireland, and funded by government initiative Creative Ireland. The song features 30 children from the local area, along with a group living in refugee accommodation in nearby County Clare.
In the high-voltage, two-and-a-half-minute track, the kids deliver a frankly adorable rap with a positive, uplifting message: "Think you can stop what we do? I doubt it! We got the energy, we’ll tell you all about it. I searched for my spark and I found it".
The Spark was produced by Garry McCarthy, who records music as GMCBeats and runs the workshops at Kabin Studio that spawned the track. “We were looking to work with something upbeat and put on a drum’n’bass track," he told The Guardian earlier this year.
"We found the beat and started coming up with chant and chorus ideas. [...] We do things quickly. We’re doing this all the time – new songs every week. This one just happened to go a little bit further."
The shortlist for the 2025 Grammy Awards will be announced on November 2nd, and the awards will take place next February in Los Angeles.
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