Rarely does one think of CEOs when they think of musical inspiration. No offense "International Business Community" but you guys don't have a reputation for being a group ripe with artistic material beyond complaining about your less than scrupulous habits. With that in mind, today's song from Thundercat is a bit of surprise, a tribute to the recently deceased former Nintendo CEO Hiroshi, Yamauchi.
And yet, this tribute is not as surprising as it first may seem when you realize that Yamauchi took Nintendo from a simple playing card manufacturer to the massive video game company it is today. And, if we have finally begun to recognize games for their creativity and artistic merit (which we should be doing because they are one of the largest examples of what Keat's called "negative capability," or the ability for a person to imagine a world seemingly ex nihlo (from nothing) that we can point to) then Yamauchi's business leadership is commendable and maybe even a little visionary (during his tenure the company published Super Mario, Legend of Zelda, Metroid, etc. etc.). So, why not?
Thundercat's tribute is in the spirit of the time of the 8-Bit era, which I should also point to as producing some incredibly catchy and worthwhile songs as well. "Bowzer's Ballad" is a stirring chip tune with all the grandiosity of a video game loading screen (I mean that sincerely, I get goosebumps the minute someone fires up a Legend of Zelda cartridge in my proximity).
Rest in peace Mr. Yamauchi, hopefully you are comfortable in that Princess's Castle in the Sky (don't worry, she isn't in another castle either. Man, that Toad can be a jerk).
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