WATCH: 'When the news broke, the whole town cried' 

A SUICIDE-awareness group in Canada has picked a poignant track by a young Cork rapper to front a new campaign for schools across Australia, North America, and Europe.

Bandon teenager Aidan Burke, known as ‘Burkie’, penned the rap song to mark the one-year anniversary of the day his friend, Rian, took his own life.

The third-year student at St Brogan’s College said of ‘We Ain’t Mad at Ya’: “It is a rap song in memory of my friend, Rian. I wrote all the parts, except for the chorus, which was written by Nichole Desmond, who is from Cork City. I record all my stuff with M5 Sound Studio. 

"I was looking for a female artist to do the chorus and Coco, the executive producer, called in Nichole, who is known as N’D, to sing the verses. She has a beautiful voice. It worked out great,” he said.

The 15-year-old first discovered his love for performing when he sang the hit ‘Big Poppa’, by the artist The Notorious B.I.G., to Rian’s family and friends gathered on the grounds of Bandon AFC. 

“I took up singing about a year or two ago. At home, I would throw on the record player and turn up the rap music up to the top. It kept me happy. Rian died in February 2022 from suicide. 

"After Rian died, a large group of people went up to the soccer pitch in Bandon and we released balloons. I was asked to do something to lift people’s spirits, so I sang a song, which made everyone happy.

“I knew, from then on, that it was what I wanted to do on a full-time basis. I started writing the song ‘We Ain’t Mad at Ya’ the month after he died. I went through a few different drafts. I am delighted with the way it came out. It is great to raise awareness about such an important topic. We released the video for the song last Sunday. We did a good bit of the filming in Courtmacsherry,” he added.

The rap tune, which is available on Spotify, SoundCloud, and YouTube Music, has already received significant airtime on Cork radio stations and has attracted international recognition. 

“The song has gone international. A suicide-awareness campaign from Canada is after hearing about the song. They want to use my song as a theme for their international programme, which they will be using in all the schools in North America, Australia, and Europe. I have also got some radio play in Cork with RedFM and 96FM.”

The Bandon musician starts his Junior Cycle exams on Wednesday, June 7, before he spends the summer pursuing his musical ambitions.

“I have the Junior Cert starting soon, but I expect to release more songs during the summer. 

"I am looking forward to writing and playing lots of music during the summer. There will be more songs to come. Watch this space.”