The creator of the infamous Donkey Kong rap won’t be credited in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, much to his disappointment. Gamers were first introduced to the DK Rap in the classic Nintendo 64 platformer Donkey Kong 64, where it was used to introduce the titular ape and his colorful crew in the style of typical Rare-developed Nintendo titles of the time. Remixed versions of the tune have appeared in other Nintendo games like Donkey Konga and the Super Smash Bros. series starting with Melee, and it was even included in the standalone soundtrack for the former in 2004.Despite its prevalence in Donkey Kong-related games and media, the DK Rap had a poor reception among players at the time of Donkey Kong 64 and continues to divide fans to this day. Some players find it annoying, while others view the cheesy rap as a nostalgic staple of the Donkey Kong franchise. Recently, Seth Rogan (who voices Donkey Kong in The Super Mario Bros. Movie) threw shade at the DK Rap by calling it “one of the worst raps in history” - though he did admit that some parts of the song are catchy.Seth Rogan also revealed that the DK Rap will be included in The Super Mario Bros. Movie during Donkey Kong’s introduction, but the artist who created it won’t be named in the film’s credits. A fan who recently saw the movie in theaters tweeted that the DK Rap is only listed as being “from Donkey Kong 64” - without any mention of composer Grant Kirkhope. Kirkhope responded to this news by tweeting that he was looking forward to seeing his name in the credits of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, but he wasn’t expecting to be listed.
Grant Kirkhope has spoken in the past about the DK Rap, once calling it “bloody awful” during the 40th anniversary of the Donkey Kong franchise back in 2021. However, he later noted that he has a sort of love/hate relationship with the song, as evidenced by his willingness to pay homage to it in Yooka-Laylee. Aside from the DK Rap, he is well-known for his work in other classic N64 games like Banjo-Kazooie and GoldenEye, and recently returned to the world of Nintendo for Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle and its sequel Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope.
While Grant Kirkhope might not have the best memories for the notorious DK Rap, many fans look back at the cheesy musical refrain fondly - and it has become so synonymous with Donkey Kong himself that it will be featured in his cinematic debut in The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Unfortunately, the movie isn’t acknowledging Kirkhope as the person behind the iconic (if infamous) DK Rap - much to the disappointment of hardcore Nintendo fans lining up in theaters on opening day this week.
Donkey Kong 64 was originally released on the Nintendo 64.