Hip-hop fans got a huge surprise this week when the new Eminem album ‘Kamikaze’ was dropped spur of the moment. Video game fans might be even more surprised that the track ‘Good Guy’ features a Kingdom Hearts music sample!
New Eminem Album Samples Music from Kingdom Hearts
Illadaproducer, who produced many beats for the album, talked about sampling Kingdom Hearts for ‘Good Guy’ in a Rolling Stones interview:
That’s me doing my video game thing. Kingdom Hearts. It’s a Japanese videogame, and that’s the theme song from it. It’s one of the dopest melodies I’ve ever heard. Shout out Japanese videogames and Japanimation for inspiration.
Fans suggest the track uses a version of ‘Sanctuary’ from KH II. Although it’s largely unrecognizable due to the work Illadaproducer did on it.
Filtered it, did some chops, did some processing to it. I basically made it unrecognizable, but I know they would have still found it. That’s why we had to deal with the clearance. But when I do anything I try to make it to where it’s not fully recognizable.
You can listen to the new Eminem album for free right now on Spotify. It’s also available on Amazon, iTunes, and Apple Music.
Big Year For Kingdom Hearts
It’s no surprise to see Kingdom Hearts getting some love in the mainstream. The franchise has sold tens of millions and has a huge cult following.
A lot of hype has been generated for Kingdom Hearts 3, which is now set for a January 2019 release.
There have even been some rumors of Sora from Kingdom Hearts making it to the Smash Bros Ultimate Roster.
It’s not the first time Kingdom Hearts has featured in a hip-hop track either. French Montana also used Sanctuary from Kingdom Hearts 2 in his track ‘Sanctuary’. Kingdom Hearts featuring on a new Eminem album is yet another sign of the game’s huge following.