Who Made the 'It's Corn' Song? Unpacking the Team and Ethics Behind the Viral Track
The raw material did not originate in a music studio. It began with Julian Shapiro-Barnum, a Brooklyn-based actor and comedian who launched the web series Recess Therapy in 2021. Armed with a microphone and a roving camera crew, Shapiro-Barnum spent months interviewing children on New York City playgrounds, coaxing out unscripted perspectives on life, friendship, and day-to-day absurdities.
Tariq, then seven, approached the camera with an unprompted lecture on his favorite vegetable. He broke down the tactile experience of eating corn, politely wished viewers a "corntastic day," and offered an infectious, rhythmic cadence that practically begged for instrumentation. Shapiro-Barnum edited the video and uploaded it to Instagram and TikTok, where it immediately accumulated tens of millions of views. The video was compelling on its own, but it required an external catalyst to morph from a charming clip into an omnipresent cultural soundtrack.