The “DK Rap” has been an infamous part of Donkey Kong’s legacy since its inception in 1999. It even made its way into The Super Mario Bros. Movie and while it is listed in the credits, the original composer, Grant Kirkhope, wasn’t named.
Kirkhope expressed his disappointment on Twitter simply by saying, “Well that’s f*****g depressing.” He then followed it up by stating he was “really looking forward to [seeing his] name in the credits.”
GameXplain Editor-in-Chief André Segers captured the still on Twitter that shows that the film just credits the game it was from and not the people who created it.
Kirkhope had previously expressed excitement over it being in the film, too. Seth Rogen’s reaction to the song on March 30 prompted a response from the legendary composer, as Kirkhope tweeted that he would have “burst with excitement” if he knew it would be in a Mario movie when he wrote it in 1997.
While uncredited in the film, Kirkhope has been credited in dozens of games, many of which are from his time at Rare that stretched from 1995 to 2008. Killer Instinct 2, Banjo-Kazooie, GoldenEye 007, Perfect Dark, Donkey Kong 64, Star Fox Adventures, Viva Piñata, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, Yooka-Laylee, and Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope are just some of the titles Kirkhope has made music for.
Kirkhope noted in a GamesRadar retrospective from 2019 that the “DK Rap” began as a lunchtime joke. He said he thought that people would understand the humor behind it, but that’s not quite what happened. It has been a meme since and even though it was the first time people had written negatively about his music, Kirkhope said he doesn’t regret writing it.
“I’m glad I wrote it,” said Kirkhope. “It’s been a fun thing to have people take the mickey out of me for years about and, you know, my 17-year-old son and all of his mates know it. None of those guys were born when I did that and it’s incredible that they know every word.”
