Grant Kirkhope, composer of the DK Rap, wasn’t aware it would be used in Donkey Kong Bananza.
Yesterday, Nintendo detailed more on its forthcoming Switch 2 gorilla platformer and fans spotted the inclusion of the DK Rap, originally created for Donkey Kong 64.
But Kirkhope was not aware it would be used again in Donkey Kong Bananza. Based on past use, it seems unlikely he’ll be credited too.
Donkey Kong Bananza Direct – 18/06/2025Watch on YouTube
“Well, what can I say, the worst rap track in the history of rap tracks seems to be back again!” joked Kirkhope to Eurogamer.
“It’s so bizarre that people seem to like it now considering the backlash that I got when DK64 first came out, nobody seemed to get the joke except me… haha… I’ve only had to wait 25 years for that to happen! Actually I think that little kids got the joke but the cool teenagers didn’t!”
He added: “My tombstone will read, ‘Here lies the body of Grant Kirkhope, he wrote the DK Rap and the Goldeneye Pause Music’… Nothing else will matter!!”
Eurogamer previously spoke to Kirkhope about the inclusion of the DK Rap in Nintendo’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Kirkhope was not credited for its use.
“[Nintendo] said we decided that any music that was quoted from the games that we owned, we wouldn’t credit the composers – apart from Koji Kondo,” he explained. “Then they decided anything with a vocal would get credited, so the DK Rap scores there. But then they decided if we also own it, we won’t credit the composers. And that was the final nail in the coffin.
“I said I appreciate you’ve got your policies and all the rest of it, but by the time the credits roll in the movie to show the songs, the theatre’s completely empty, everyone’s gone, it’s only me and my wife and my two kids sat there going ‘look daddy’s name!’. I said ‘for the sake of a couple of lines of text…’, but that was that.”
Considering Nintendo owns the DK Rap score, it would appear Kirkhope may once again not be credited for its inclusion in Donkey Kong Bananza.
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Donkey Kong Bananza will be released next month and has a musical twist with Donkey Kong transformations. It will also include a music player to enjoy tracks from the game – presumably the DK Rap will be there too.
Eurogamer also spoke to Kirkhope about the possibility of a new Banjo Kazooie game, as well as his work on GoldenEye, and how his music represents nostalgia.