Donkey Kong is a household name across all generations of gaming. Some of the most well-known aspects of the Donkey Kong franchise are from the games developed by Rare. While the company is now known for the swashbuckling adventure of Sea of Thieves, Rare's Donkey Kong Country series was incredibly influential. Rare would also go on to develop the Kong's 3D platformer debut in Donkey Kong 64. Many things are remembered from this game, but one of its composers, Grant Kirkhope, believes one particular song didn't age well.
Grant Kirkhope is a British music composer, who is best known for compositions of different video games during the N64 era. Some of his noteworthy works were for Banjo-Kazooie, GoldenEye 007, and Donkey Kong 64. Since then, he's been a composer for different video games, still maintaining relations with Nintendo. One of his latest compositions was the score for Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle, along with its sequel Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope. Of all the songs that Kirkhope has composed over the years, he considers the DK Rap from Donkey Kong 64 to be quite awful.
In a celebratory tweet for Donkey Kong's 40th Birthday, Kirkhope expressed his jubilation in being able to compose for the long-running series. He noted that while he was glad to contribute to its history, he comedically apologized for the DK Rap from Donkey Kong 64. While he went as far as to call it "bloody awful," he did do an homage to the song in Yooka-Laylee, another game similar to the ones he had worked on in the past, though he noted that decision was a massive mistake in hindsight.
While Kirkhope himself doesn't look at the DK Rap quite as fondly, many fans still have some nostalgia for the song. Despite the rather aged and silly lyrics of the rap, the game it's attached to is quite charming to many. Donkey Kong 64 still has fans to this day, as evidenced by the discovery of a cheat code for DK64 decades after it was released. This is further evidenced by Kirkhope's followers assuaging him that the song is still one of his best works, with Kirkhope himself having a self-described love-hate with the song.
With the series' last release being a Tropical Freeze port on the Switch, some are surprised that Nintendo doesn't have something to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Donkey Kong series. While there have been rumors of a new Donkey Kong game being in the works, nothing has been confirmed as of yet and this is only speculation. As for Donkey Kong 64, the game is still an important part of the franchise's history, contributing notable additions to its cast of Kongs. This includes Diddy Kong's jetpack and peanut popguns, which can be seen in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and the Retro Studios reboot of the Donkey Kong Country games.
Donkey Kong 64 is available on Nintendo 64.