Very few people are probably thinking about the song “DK Rap” in 2024. If you need a refresher, this is a simplistic and endearingly corny rap song from Donkey Kong 64 (1999), written by legendary video game composer Grant Kirkhope, whom you probably know better as the cult author Golden Eyes pause the music (e.g other things). George Andreas and Chris Sutherland’s 1999 version of the song featured the classic AABB rhyme scheme with questionable scansion and slant rhymes (“well” and “tail,” “tune” and “you” – you get the idea). . I’ve been fascinated by this song ever since I heard it – mainly because of its “so bad it’s good” nature – and apparently its composer never stopped thinking about it either. Because now he’s back and better than ever.
In post on Bluesky today, Kirkhope dropped a brand novel rap featuring rapper Substantial. It has novel lyrics and some very amusing ones wah-wah pedal plays guitar on the backing track. I can’t emphasize enough how strangely good this novel version of the song is. The novel lyrics obviously helped a lot, but the background is also crucial. I never expected this to happen. And I’m pretty excited about it.
It’s a shockingly good way to redeem a song that Kirkhope said was “the worst rap song in the history of rap songs.” It’s also nice to see Kirkhope getting some personal buzz around his (now much improved) song, as it was used in the 2023 animated Mario movie and he didn’t even believe him.
