Whether it is Mario Party, Super Smash Bros, or Mario Kart, as soon you hit that power button, you will instantly recognized the music of these classic video games. Growing up playing all types of consoles and game types, I was always intrigued by the soundtracks. The same thing can be applied with movies and film, its the background accents of dramatic climaxes or somber drones that tie into the emotional effect you get from enjoying the medium.
For my paper, I want to explore the music of Nintendo video games that have translated in various forms of pop culture. For instance, hip-hop music is known for sampling (a term used for recreating songs using original sound bites and instruments of established works) with old movies, songs, or video games. An example would be the 19 year old rapper Lil Yachty and his track “Run/Running” where the Mario 64 theme song is used as the main melody.
Here is the Lil Yachty song:
Now here is the Mario 64 file select theme music: