Kabin Studio set to be honoured at City Hall

A civic reception will be held at City Hall next month to honour the work of Cork’s Kabin Studio.

The event, due to be held in the council chamber on February 20 at 6.30pm, will celebrate the success of the initiative over the last 12 years.

For more than a decade, The Kabin Studio in Knocknaheeny has been dedicated to nurturing young musical talent and creating a safe and friendly environment for young people to thrive.

Founded in 2013 by Garry McCarthy from GMCBeats Workshops, The Kabin Studio is situated in an idle MasterKabin, which was refurbished in partnership with Cork ETB and Music Generation Cork City to run workshops and recording projects for young people across Cork.

In 2024, the studio’s resident rap group The Kabin Crew shot to fame with their viral hit song, ‘The Spark’ — which was created in conjunction with Clare rap group, The Lisdoonvarna Crew.

Since its release, the song has amassed more than 2bn views on social media and 52m streams, and has garnered the group support from other musical talents such as Stormzy and Tove Lo.

Their success led to a range of live performances at events and festivals, including a concert with British singer Becky Hill at Virgin Media Park, and performances at Electric Picnic, All Together Now, Kaleidoscope festival, and Pukkelpop festival in Belgium.

The group’s musical accolades continued to grow as they were later longlisted for the 67th annual Grammy Awards which take place next week, under the Best Dance/Electronic Recording and Song of the Year category.

While the group narrowly missed out on making it to the final ballot for the prestigious awards, their paramount success will be honoured at the civic reception to show local support for their trojan efforts.

On the day of the event, members of The Kabin Crew and their families will be joined at City Hall by the Lord Mayor of Cork, councillor Dan Boyle, who will give a speech and present the group with a gift.