The Animal Crossing franchise has many loveable and recognizable characters, from the infamous Tom Nook to the coffee-loving pigeon, Brewster. But by far, one of the most iconic characters in Animal Crossing is K.K. Slider, the white labrador who's responsible for most of the games' soundtracks. K.K.'s mellow attitude and fun songs make him a highlight of most Animal Crossing games. He's an international superstar in New Horizons, but he wasn't always.
Newer fans of Animal Crossing might not realize just how far K.K. Slider's career has come, as he didn't start out with albums or any kind of celebrity status. With each Animal Crossing game, K.K. Slider has become a little more famous as he continues to produce music. K.K.'s music career started at the bottom, and it took a long time for him to get where he is today. It's a wonderful little detail; Animal Crossing isn't known for character development, but K.K. is a major exception.
The Original K.K. Slider
In Animal Forest and Animal Crossing, K.K. Slider was just a traveling musician playing for tips near the train station. He was well-known in the community but definitely wasn't an international superstar. Even when he was just starting out, though, K.K. was always committed to being a singer-songwriter. He has always sung original songs and only plays his own, even at the train station.
K.K. has always been motivated to spread his music as far as possible. He likes to give players copies of his music after a show, which obviously has a gameplay component but also depicts K.K. Slider as a musician just starting out. He's trying to get his name out there, even though he's not obsessed with becoming a star. K.K. loves music for music's sake.
After performing at the train station for two games, K.K. worked his way up to live music gigs. In Wild World, he got connected with Brewster at The Roost and started playing live shows on Saturdays. He continued passing out copies of his music and stayed at The Roost for a while. His role is exactly the same in City Folk, but in New Leaf, his career really starts to take off.
In New Leaf, K.K. does something a little bit different. Instead of being a train station and coffee shop musician, he becomes a part-time DJ. DJ K.K. runs the show in Club LOL Sunday through Friday, but he hasn't completely forgotten about his roots. Actually, far from it. On Saturdays, K.K. gets the stage to himself to showcase his own songs. By this point, K.K. has started producing albums with unique cover art.
K.K. may have used his time at Club LOL to experiment with more genres and become more well-rounded as a musician. K.K., as everyone knows, is incredibly versatile and can tackle just about any genre out there. Club LOL also seems to be what catapulted K.K. into true stardom; in New Horizons, he's on a completely different level.
K.K. Slider Becomes a Superstar
In Animal Crossing: New Horizons, K.K. Slider is an international superstar. He's a household name at this point and plays a huge role in the story's progression. When players start to develop their island on New Horizons, Tom Nook challenges the player to put it on the map in a way that would entice K.K. to come and perform. When players reach a three-star island rating, K.K. visits and holds a concert. He's no longer just the local musician, however, he's a celebrity, and having him come to the island is a huge deal.
As always, K.K. passes out his music after performing and players can buy his albums through Nook Shopping. K.K.'s repertoire has been completely overhauled for New Horizons, so he's clearly been hard at work composing new music.
In the original Animal Crossing game, K.K. only had 55 songs. Now, he has over 100, 12 of which were just added with Animal Crossing: New Horizons' 2.0 update. K.K. Slider has come a long way as a musician, and in future games, it's likely that his prominence will only continue to grow. The good thing is that fame hasn't gone to K.K.'s head, and he's still the exact same dog players met in the original games.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is available now on Nintendo Switch.