Original composer of DK rap responds after going uncredited in Super Mario Bros. Movie
As fans race to the cinema to see The Super Mario Bros. Movie, not everyone has been so thrilled by the recently released adaptation.
Fans had been delighted with multiple references to the original games, including a rendition of the iconic DK Rap - which was written by Grant Kirkhope in 1999.
However, the song’s composer soon had to pump the breaks on his excitement after realising he’d not been credited for his work in the film.
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This snub has been made all the more bitter given that the classic track had become a fan favourite after its first appearance in Nintendo's Donkey Kong 64.
Now a running joke among gamers, the song has appeared in multiple Mario games, including the Super Smash Bro games.
It’s even been used in promotional content for The Super Mario Bros. Movie, with a short video of actor Seth Rogen reacting to the classic video track uploaded to the film’s official Twitter page last month.
Having played the mad monkey in the film, the Superbad star even comments on the fact that the track is used to introduce Donkey Kong.
He then jokingly told fans that the track is ‘objectively one of the worst rap songs of all time’ in the tongue-in-cheek clip.
The 40-year-old then rated the song, saying: “An iconic song, an iconic dance, an iconic crew, an iconic moment in time…Ten out of ten bananas.”
Whilst it’s not the first time the DK Rap has been blasted for how bad it is, composer Grant Kirkhope has reacted angrily to the snub on Twitter.
The Scottish songwriter had even apologised for what he called a ‘bloody awful rap’ on Twitter, as he celebrated Donkey Kong’s 40th anniversary in 2021.
Despite this, the composer admitted that he’d been excited to see the music used in The Super Mario Bros. Movie and disappointed when he went uncredited.
He wrote: “I was really looking forward to see my name in the credits for the DK Rap, but alas as expected it's not there ........ fml.”
It’s all the more shocking given that Kirkhope had worked on the soundtrack of many other iconic games such as Goldeye 007 and Banjo Kazooie.
He’s not the only person to have been snubbed by the film though, with actor Charles Martinet not being cast, despite voicing Mario in the video games for over 30 years.
Instead, the role of the moustached plumber went to the MCU’s Chris Pratt – much to the annoyance of fans.
We’d give these snubs zero out of ten bananas.
Topics: Gaming, Super Mario, Film and TV, Music
Katherine Sidnell