It emerged as the unlikely song of the summer this year, but can “The Spark," a song by a group of Irish kid rappers, bring a Grammy home to Ireland?

“The Spark” by Kabin Crew and Lisdoonvarna Crew has made the longlist for the Grammys, the team behind the Irish hit song proudly announced on Tuesday, October 8.

The song is vying for a nomination in both the Best Dance / Electronic Recording category and the Song of the Year category.

The Irish sensation is facing stiff competition - according to Billboard, there are 978 contenders this year for the eight Song of the Year nominations.

The first round of voting for the 2025 Grammys opened on Friday, October 4, and will run through October 15. The 2025 Grammy nominees will be announced on November 8, and the winners will be announced on February 2.

"What a mad few months this has been!" Garry McCarthy - aka GMCBeats, the producer of "The Spark" - said on social media on Tuesday.

“A song that we created for the Rhyme Island initiative with the crew of legendary kids and tutors at The Kabin Studio and in Lisdoonvarna is longlisted for the Grammys!!

“Shout out to the incredibly talented PapaPedro Beats on the beat too!"

"The Spark" was produced as part of Rhyme Island, a youth rap initiative powered by GMCBeats and the Kabin Studio, a not-for-profit youth and community-based studio in Cork's Northside, in collaboration with the Creative Ireland Programme and Cruinniú na nÓg 2024, Ireland's national day of celebrating youth creativity.

The song's rise to viral fame had a humble start. On May 16, RTÉ featured a clip of "The Spark" in its post on X announcing Cruinniú na nÓg 2024, which was held on June 15 this year.

RTÉ's post on X has since racked up more than 9 million views and 26k likes with many commenters intrigued by the infecitous tune.

As the post gained traction, RTÉ followed up to give credit for the song to McCarthy, The Kabin Studio, the Rhyme Island initiative, as well as the video's filmmaker Seán Downey.

🎼Song credits go to @GMCBeats @thekabinstudio and @Rhymeisland. 📽️The video is by @SwanIGuess.

— RTÉ (@rte) May 17, 2024

While "The Spark" wasn't on streaming services yet, intrigued viewers took to YouTube to watch and listen to the infectious song and its accompanying music video, which has since racked up a staggering 5.9 million views since being uploaded in May.

After much demand from the public, the song was eventually released on streaming services through the Irish label Rubyworks Records on June 13.

At the same time, "The Spark" took off on TikTok where creators choreographed dances to the undeniably catchy tune. According to RTÉ, the song has a whopping 1.3 billion views on the platform.

@cost_n_mayor

WHO IS TEACHING THE CHILDREN IN IRELAND TO SPIT THIS KIND OF FIRE

♬ The Spark - Kabin Crew

The unexpected success helped secure slots at major music festivals for the Kabin Crew, including Electric Picnic and Pukkelpop.

Related: Music