Grant Kirkhope, the renowned composer behind classics like Donkey Kong 64, recently shed light on why he was not credited for the use of the DK Rap in The Super Mario Bros. Movie. In a revealing interview with Eurogamer, Kirkhope explained that after the film's release, he had a conversation with Nintendo. The company had decided not to credit any music it owns, which unfortunately included the DK Rap.
"They 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," Kirkhope stated. He further elaborated that the policy shifted to credit any music with vocals, which initially seemed to favor the DK Rap. However, the final decision was that if Nintendo owned the music, the composers would not be credited, effectively excluding Kirkhope from the credits.
Expressing his disappointment, Kirkhope noted the irony of the situation, "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."
In a social media post from April 2023, Kirkhope voiced his frustration: "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."
While other Nintendo-owned songs like Bowser's Fury also went uncredited, licensed tracks in the film did receive proper acknowledgments for their composers and performers. Kirkhope described the sampling of the DK Rap as "bizarre," suggesting it was done by simply "plugging in the N64 and sampling it and looping it." Despite his contributions on guitar and the vocal efforts of "the lads from Rare," none received credit.
When asked about the possibility of the DK Rap appearing on the Nintendo Music App, Kirkhope was uncertain but noted, "They have put some of [David Wise]'s stuff on it. They do own it all so it's up to them. I don't think they ever really liked [Donkey Kong 64] that much. That's a rumour we got back through the cycle of whispers from Nintendo when we were at Rare. I don't know if that's true or not."
Interestingly, Donkey Kong 64 is absent from the N64 Switch Online lineup, though elements like the Rambi theme are expected to feature in Donkey Kong Bananza. For more insights from Kirkhope, including discussions on potential new projects like Banjo Kazooie and Donkey Kong Bananza, you can read the full interview on Eurogamer.
Meanwhile, the Mario franchise continues to expand, with a new Super Mario Bros. movie slated for release in April 2026.
