By Jordan Heller
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — An elementary school chorus that became famous this year when their rendition of Jay-Z's "Empire State of Mind" went viral on Youtube got a surprise last week when Queen Latifah and rapper Common paid them a visit in a Manhattan recording studio.
The PS 22 Chorus of Staten Island was visiting MSR Recording Studios in Midtown Manhattan, and performing a rendition of Latifah's song "Champion" when Latifah and Common entered the room.
Latifah's and Common's unexpected presence sent the 5th graders into a frenzy, with the kids leaping from their seats to clap and scream, video evidence of the event (embedded above) shows.
After things calm down, the kids and hip-hop stars collaborate on an inspired rendition of "Champion."
The elementary school Internet sensations first gained notoriety when Ashton Kutcher twittered about them last fall, and in January of this year, a Youtube video featuring the kids performing Jay-Z’s and Alicia Keys’s 2009 valentine to New York, “Empire State of Mind,” became an Internet sensation.
