For people of a certain age, PokémonPokérap’s is an instantly recognizable symbol. While it’s a simple song listing all 150 Pokémon that existed at the time, it’s become quite a song and many fans before – and today – might utter a single word. verse in just a moment.
Pokérap is played at the end of every Pokémon anime episode in the first season. The song was so long that it had to be divided into five parts, each assigned to a day of the week so that the entire song could play out throughout each week. It was performed by James “D-Train” Williams, an R&B artist, who did most of the vocals, while the song’s rap was performed by Babi Floyd, who passed away in 2013. The song was performed by Babi Floyd, who passed away in 2013. written by the music director at 4Kids Entertainment at the time, John Siegler, working with another writer named John Loeffler.
Pokérap’s Dark Side
In an interview with The Week in 2015, D-Train and Siegler discussed the song’s writing process and how they got involved in it. 4Kids is handling the anime localization and has reached out to D-Train and Babi Floyd through its roster of talented producers. D-Train says that the song was written by adding about five Pokémon at a time, getting the rhyme and rhythm right and then doing it again for the next few Pokémon, making its creation a lengthy process. They even went back and removed a Pokémon from the song, either due to a name change or if the Pokémon in question was Mew, because it hadn’t been revealed yet. D-Train claims Pokérap opened up Japan for him, because “everyone there knew it” and thus he was able to perform internationally.
Despite the song’s success, D-Train and Floyd did not receive any royalties due to an agreement with 4Kids at the time of recording. While Babi Floyd and D-Train have never joined a lawsuit over the matter, unlike some of the others involved in creating the original music for the dub, this has made the relationship with 4Kids a no-brainer. rift. D-Train said in the interview that he takes pride in his work with Pokémon and is happy that his children can know their father created Pokérap. Siegler looked back on the song with less fondness, feeling that it didn’t carry much musical value compared to some of the other original works he had created for the anime.
The story behind PokémonUnfortunately, its Pokérap is pretty typical, but it’s nice to know that at least the D-Train looks back on the song affectionately.
Source: Week
