Donkey Kong 64’s DK Rap is undoubtedly a beloved tune. While Donkey Kong 64 itself may not be all that popular today, the Nintendo 64 platformer broke the internet in the early 2000s when its hilarious rap song opener hit forums and early video sharing services.
To this day, the DK Rap pops up frequently, and was even featured in the first of two Mario films by Illumination. Fans still create their own mashups, memes, and even covers of the song to this day. (My personal favourite is a beautiful combination of the song with David Bowie’s Space Oddity, dubbed Ape Oddity.)
Now, 27 years after its release, composer Grant Kirkhope still has a stressed relationship with the song. Speaking on our FRVR Podcast, Kirkhope explained that his role as Donkey Kong in DK64 is “my best performance”, and the composer is often surprised at the longstanding legacy of his sounds and music within the pantheon of Nintendo tunes and sounds.
“I feel like Nintendo still do give me and Dave Wise a nod here and there,” he said. “Like, they did Rambi’s theme for me and DK Island [for Dave]… it’s kind of ironic that the most known DK music is mine and his which is like, how did that happen? It should be Nintendo’s music that should be the most known DK music.”
Kirkhope explained that there’s no escaping Dave Wise’s DK Island Swing, adding that it exceeds his own work on the series. “Even the DK rap equally is probably, well probably not as equal because Dave’s tune is superior because the DK Rap is s**t, but I feel the DK Rap, that music is used in the Mario movie, they feel like they had to do it.”
Over the years, Kirkhope’s relationship with the track has changed. In 2010, the composer was slightly embarrassed by the track’s popularity, saying: “I think my tombstone will read, “here lies the body of Grant Kirkhope, he wrote the DK Rap, may God have mercy on his soul”. Today, he’s more comfortable with the track’s continued popularity, even if he hasn’t earned much from its two decades of play.
“It’s a love-hate. It’s clearly the worst rap track in the history of rap tracks,” he said. “It easily is. There’s no worse rap than that, not even… Ice, Ice, Baby. Not even he made a worse rap track than me. And he’s bad.”
While the topic of legacy is always a tricky one, Kirkhope explains that being known for something is better than never being known for anything. “Seriously, as a composer, if you’re known for anything—irrespective of how bad it may be—that’s pretty fantastic. Because lots of composers never get known for anything. They write music that no one ever remembers, they write great music and no one knows it. If the piece of sh*t that I wrote, the DK Rap or the Goldeneye pause music, is what I’m remembered for, I’m good with it.”
Kirkhope himself has seen the community that has formed simply around the DK Rap over the years, including the mashups with other popular songs. “I’ve seen some of those and they’re fantastic,” he adds. “That people take the time to do it, it’s crazy. It’s fantastic.”
While the popularity of the song has only grown, Kirkhope still has no qualms about it’s quality. “It’s in the bracket of Agadoo, it’s so shit it’s cheesily good now. That’s what I think it is. But it’s got a bit of an iconic-ness about it now. It’s become its own thing. It’s got its own life now,” he said.
To this day, Kirkhope is still composing, and is seemingly more booked than ever. “I do feel like sometimes, it’s by virtue of the fact that I’ve not given up,” he said. “People have remembered who I am. Or people that were 10 back then are working in video game companies in their 30s and want to get me to do stuff. I’ve been really lucky. I really have. Lots of times, when composers move from staff composers to freelance, it doesn’t work. I’ve been really lucky.”
While fans still push for more Kirkhope music. the composer is definitely more down on their skills compared to fans. “I’ve always felt if there was a Premiere League for composers, I’d be first division, never quite got to the Premiere League. I’ve always felt like that… I’ve always felt like I’ve never quite got there.”
Kirkhope explains that he doesn’t plan on ever not composing music. “I always tell myself, giving up is easy,” he told us. “Keeping going is hard. So you just need to keep going. I want to do this until I can’t do it anymore. All I can do is write music. I’m really privileged that I get to sit in my house every day and write music.”
As we speak, Kirkhope is working on a tonne of music for games announced and unannounced. One exciting project the composer is scoring is Bradley the Badger, a new 3D platformer by the minds behind Mario + Rabbids, but he’s also working on a litany of other projects. In fact, the day we spoke, the composer agreed to yet another project.
