iStockphoto / Aoraee
A group of kids in Ireland have done it, they’ve dropped the Song of the Summer. The youth rap group known as Rhyme Island have gone viral, taking over TikTok with their hit ‘The Spark’ which was created as part of the summer festival Cruinniú na nÓg which is a day to celebrate creativity for children.
The song is infectious. Hearing it once you quickly realize how it’s not just another gimmick. Then you see the music video and realize it’s a bunch of elementary school-aged children rapping bars and begin to question whether or not it’s a gimmick.
It all comes full circle when you are scrolling TikTok and see countless videos of Irish people reacting to the Song of the Summer, ‘The Spark’ by Rhyme Island, which is slowly but surely taking over the Emerald Isle. Videos like this one:
And this one:
And this one:
The Irish children from Cork put together a full music video for The Spark in conjunction with the Cruinniú na nÓg 2024 festival. Whoever reading this can pronounce ‘Cruinniú na nÓg’ deserves all the praise.
‘The Spark’ by Ryhme Island — Song of the Summer?
There has traditionally been a continental divide when it comes to the Song of the Summer. Europe has a different ear for music than we do here in the states. But when it comes to Rap/Hip-Hop, it’s possible that continental divide will disappear.
NPR has done a feature on ‘The Spark’ by this group of Irish kids. Their story was also picked up by the Guardian which wrote about the song going viral.
According to the Guardian, the song has quickly picked up over 8.6 million views and counting but that numbers was from over a week ago and it counts views across all social, not just YouTube.
The lyrics aren’t exactly Shakespearean but they capture the essence of endless energy in childhood. The first verse goes “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.”
I would be SHOCKED if this song isn’t already playing in Ibiza as we speak.