The song was performed on a pop show in Japan by a high-profile Japanese rapper. Yeah." Destructoid's Dale North included it in his list of the most obnoxious video game songs and joked that he imagined the Fresh Prince of Bel Air character Carlton Banks dancing to this song. He stated, "Really, when I think of the improvisational musical art of the inner city underclasses the first thing that comes to mind is a tie-wearing Japanese gorilla. He also called it one of the worst video game themes and called it "so-bad-it's-good" due to its "fundamental cluelessness". 1Up.com's Scott Sharkey included it in his list of the "top 5 cringe-inducing videogame raps" and claimed that it was a "100% reliable method of emptying the place" in which he took his cigarette breaks. It also received criticism for its use of the word "hell" despite its ESRB rating. It was awarded "dubious awards" for its quality. Since its appearance in Donkey Kong 64, the "DK Rap" has received generally mixed to negative reception. As part of a Kickstarter stretch goal, Grant Kirkhope wrote a spiritual successor to the DK Rap, titled the "Yooka-Laylee Rap", for Yooka-Laylee. It was also remixed in the album Donkey Konga -The Hottest Hits. Ultimate, and was featured as a song in the GameCube music game Donkey Konga. This version was later reused in its sequels Super Smash Bros. The original theme features the word "hell", which was changed to "heck" for the Melee release. who provided different voices for every verse. Ī new version of the DK Rap was featured in the 2001 GameCube Nintendo crossover fighting game Super Smash Bros.
DK DONKEY KONG DOWNLOAD
The song was made available for download on Nintendo's website for use with this promotion. The winner would receive a Donkey Kong 64/Nintendo 64 console bundle, a trip to Nintendo of America's headquarters in Redmond, Washington, and their video would be hosted on the official Donkey Kong 64 website.
Around the release of Donkey Kong 64, Nintendo of America hosted a promotion called the "DK Rap Attack Contest" where people could submit a recording of themselves singing their own version of the "DK Rap". The DK Rap is the first song in the 1999 Donkey Kong 64 Original Soundtrack where it was named "Da Banana Bunch". While the DJ practiced, they recorded him, using what good came out of it and mixing it together. Some characters in the theme have higher tempos than others. Because the remixed rap is faster, it was not possible for them to record it live. To overcome these issues, they played the background audio and recorded the rap over it. Composer Hirokazu Ando was originally going to be in charge of composition of the song, but due to technical issues, director Masahiro Sakurai and composer Shogo Sakai had to assist. The "DK Rap" was remixed in Super Smash Bros. Video game designer Shigesato Itoi provided a Japanese translation of the "DK Rap" on his personal website. The Japanese version of the "DK Rap" was not localized for the Japanese release of Donkey Kong 64, nor was it subtitled. Kirkhope felt surprised that Nintendo objected to the use of the word "hell" and attributed it to the Bible belt in the United States. Consumer and critical reaction, however, was generally negative and felt that the song was serious. Kirkhope stated that it was not supposed to be a "serious rap" but rather a joke. Each character's verse featured instrumentals which reflected the actual instruments that the different characters possessed. The chorus included Rare staffers such as Gregg Mayles, Steve Mayles, Ed Bryan, and Chris Peil. Andreas wrote and performed the lyrics (alongside Donkey Kong 64 lead programmer Chris Sutherland) to the song while Kirkhope wrote the tune. Kirkhope's goal was to do a similar concept to the concept of juxtaposing old Donkey Kong versus new Donkey Kong found in Donkey Kong Country. Andreas took inspiration from the band Run DMC. The rap was originally conceived by Donkey Kong 64 designer George Andreas and composed by Grant Kirkhope. The "DK Rap" is the introductory theme to the Nintendo 64 video game Donkey Kong 64 its lyrics describe the five playable characters in the video game - Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Tiny Kong, Lanky Kong, and Chunky Kong.