The voice actor for Donkey Kong in the upcoming Super Mario Bros. animated movie, Seth Rogen, throws some shade at one of Donkey Kong 64’s most memorable tracks, the DK Rap. With the Super Mario Bros. Movie quickly approaching its premiere in theaters, fans have been getting more and more clips about what to expect. This includes elements like Donkey Kong, a character whose history is going to be streamlined for this movie, along with clips of his voice. Seth Rogen also is participating in a variety of ways to promote the movie, such as sharing his opinion on the Donkey Kong rap.For the uninitiated, the Donkey Kong rap was introduced in Rare’s 3D Nintendo 64 platformer, Donkey Kong 64. During these days with Nintendo, Rare typically had a musical interlude to open up its N64 titles, with fans being greeted to the Donkey Kong rap in DK64 to continue this tradition. On initial release, fans really hated it, some calling it the worst opening song to be put in a game, though it has been vindicated by history years after its release by more nostalgic fans. However, Seth Rogen falls into the former camp, calling it one of “the worst” rap songs in history.In a clip posted to the Super Mario Bros. Movie Twitter account captioned “DK Rap is straight-up [Bananas],” Seth Rogen starts by introducing the rap as a song that “towers over the rest.” He doesn’t mince words however, calling it “objectively the worst” rap song that he’s ever heard, though it manages to elicit a chuckle out of him after saying that.
As Rogen continues listening to the song, he is amused by some of the sillier things of the simian song. He is perplexed at Lanky Kong's ability to inflate himself like a balloon, calls one of Diddy Kong’s dance moves “sick,” and admits the last portion of the song is quite catchy. Once the song is over, he ends the video calling it one of the most "iconic" songs in the Donkey Kong franchise, even giving the joke rating of "10/10 bananas" as well.
It didn't take long for his opinion of the song to reach the composer of the Donkey Kong rap, Grant Kirkhope. In the past, Kirkhope has stated he's had a bit of a love-hate relationship with the song, where he's grateful that it grew beyond a status as one of "The Worst Video Game Themes Of All Time" and is now unironically enjoyed for its pure cheese factor by those who were more nostalgic for it. He still makes self-deprecating jokes about the song these days, as indicated by one of his responses underneath the tweet.
Donkey Kong 64 was originally released on the Nintendo 64.