The Cork kids behind mega-viral rap hit The Spark were convinced a video of Billie Eilish dancing to their song had to be AI-generated.
And the group were just as excited by the pop superstar’s accomplice in the video, Amy Poehler – once they realised which famous animated character she voiced.
The catchy track – a product of the Cork city community initiative the Kabin Studio, which teaches songwriting and music production to children – was released in 2024 and has gone around the world.
Written by local children and produced by Garry McCarthy, it has been covered in outlets such as the New York Times and Time Magazine, while Kabin Crew and Lisdoonvarna Crew – the two groups of children who rap on the track – have performed it on TV and at major festivals.
And they received another thrill last week when US comedy actress Amy Poehler posted a video on TikTok of her and Billie Eilish grooving to the song, in promotion of Poehler’s Good Hang podcast.
Eleven-year-old David Rea, who raps a few solo bars on The Spark, said he was ‘shocked, extremely shocked’, to see the Bad Guy singer dancing to his song.
He told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘I think I’ve seen way more AI videos that my Mam has been showing me, going, “Oh, look at this, look at this,” and then I just say, “Oh Mam, that’s AI.” So I really didn’t believe it at first. And then I realised… what?’
The assumption was shared by most of the group, who ‘love’ Billie Eilish’s music, David’s mother Jackie said.
She told the Mail: ‘I woke up in the morning, and I saw at 2am Sophie McCarthy had put into the group chat: “Guys, I know it’s 2am but Billie Eilish is dancing to The Spark”.
The Cork kids behind mega-viral rap hit The Spark were convinced a video of Billie Eilish and Amy Poehler dancing to their song had to be AI-generated
US comedy actress Amy Poehler posted a video on TikTok of her and Billie Eilish grooving to The Spark in promotion of Poehler’s Good Hang podcast
Kabin Crew and Lisdoonvarna Crew – which consists of refugee and asylum seeker children
Eleven-year-old David Rea, who raps a few solo bars on The Spark, said he was ‘shocked, extremely shocked’, to see the Bad Guy singer dancing to his song
‘So then there was loads of messages from the other teens going, “What? Is it true? Is it AI?”
‘Then as soon as my kids woke up, I was showing Ella [who also performs on the track] and David. Ella was nearly on the verge of tears. She was saying, “Check is it AI. Check is it a spoof. This can’t be real”.
‘So, there was fierce excitement here that morning.’
The original clip uploaded by Poehler has been viewed six million times.
The thinking behind the song choice was not explained, but David speculated: ‘Maybe they just wanted to dance to The Spark because… why not?’
Most of the gang didn’t know who Poehler was, Jackie said, until she explained that the comedy actress had voiced Joy in the Disney-Pixar sensation Inside Out and its sequel.
‘They were all like, “What?”
‘Then they knew who she was. She’s massive. David actually knows Amy Poehler probably more than Billie Eilish, because he’s a die-hard fan of Inside Out and Inside Out 2, and all the other spin-offs.’
The runaway success of The Spark has seen its young creators invited to play full sets at major Irish festivals including Electric Picnic, All Together Now, Beyond The Pale and Kaleidoscope.
They also performed to more than 15,000 fans at Pukkelpop in Belgium, one of Europe’s leading music festivals, which David said was ‘really fun’.
He added: ‘Just the fact that I was in Belgium, and a lot of the time I just forgot. I remember when I came off the stage, and I was just like, “Oh, okay, I’m gonna go home now”. And then I just realised that we were in Belgium.’ He also performed solo on the UK children’s TV channel CBeebies.
But asked for his highlight, he said: ‘Honestly, maybe Emerald Park.’
Kabin Crew and Lisdoonvarna Crew – which consists of refugee and asylum seeker children – were invited to the amusement park in Co. Meath for a day of free cavorting.
David said: ‘Honestly, either one of the big performances or when we went to Emerald Park. It wasn’t the biggest thing. It was just really fun.’
Another highlight was supporting English singer Becky Hill and Dubliner Jazzy at Cork’s Musgrave Park shortly after the song went viral in 2024.
‘We were waiting backstage and then we just saw Jazzy walk in, and literally everyone ran over to hug her.
‘We all got to meet Jazzy and Becky Hill. They were very nice, I’ll say that. They were very friendly.’
The group are at Ardnaculla Summer School festival in Co. Clare this weekend, and will perform at Rock The Block, part of Cruinniú na nÓg, in Cork on June 6.
They’ve posted a thank-you video to Poehler and Eilish, whom David said he would ‘100 per cent’ like to meet.
He added: ‘I’d love to. We’d all love to.’
colm.mcguirk@dmgmedia.ie