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We talk to SMOSH about their epic Legend of Zelda rap

by rawmeatcowboy
19 November 2011
GN Version 4.0
CAUTION: ADULT SUBJECT MATTER

Over the course of running this site, I've had the pleasure of meeting tons of interesting people. One such person is Anthony Padilla, one half of the SMOSH comedy duo. For those that don't know, SMOSH has one of the most popular series on YouTube, ranking in the top 5 most subscribed channels.

What's the best part about this? The gang is definitely into Nintendo! You can see Nintendo themes in a ton of their videos, but this latest one is all about Nintendo love. An epic rap about The Legend of Zelda series, which lead to a talk with Anthony about their feature. Anthony's answers are in bold.

1. How long have you guys been Zelda fans?

We've both been fans of Zelda since we were 9, when Ocarina of Time was first released. I read about the game in Nintendo Power Magazine for months leading up to its release. This was before the Internet of course, so I had no better way of finding out information. This was the first Zelda game I had ever seen and something about it intrigued me like nothing had ever done before. Luckily it did not let me down, and I still consider it to be the most memorable experience I've ever had with a game thus far. And as for as Ian's first experience with OoT, he didn't have an N64, so he would go to his friend's house every day after school to "do homework", which actually meant Ian would play Ocarina of Time while his friend would do homework.

2. What spawned the idea for a Zelda tribute video?

Right after our first Pokemon in Real Life video was released, I started thinking about another video game we could spoof. I really enjoy Pokemon but my all-time favorite video game series is Zelda, so it was the first thing I thought of.

3. What made you want to put together a rap song?

I tried thinking of many ways to create a Zelda video, but nothing seemed to work. We ultimately decided the best route to go was to make a music video. I thought about tons of things that are universally known about the Zelda universe to help myself create a song that almost anyone would understand. And the thing that kept popping up in my head is how tons of people that haven't played any of the games assume that Link's name is Zelda. So the whole song was pretty much written around the idea that Link doesn't get the recognition he deserves, and Zelda gets it all. We ended up settling on a rap song because it seemed to fit the premise best.

4. How long did the whole process take?

From conception to video release, the whole process took about six months. The idea was first conceived in early May of this year. We had the song's instrumental created by the very talented Taylor Lipari, then I went away to my cave to write some lyrics. Meanwhile we had our also friend (and Zelda cosplayer), Jacqueline Goehner make our costumes from scratch. We had to scout for a Hyrule Field-esque location, and also have our dungeon/bomb shop set built. The whole process was really overwhelming and we couldn't have done it without the help of our amazing friends!

5. How long did the costume and make processes take?

Jacqueline Goehner spent about three months working on our costumes. Almost everything was hand cut/stitched/sewn, so it took a ton of time and dedication. She even created all of Zelda & Ganondorf's armor from scratch using resin molding that she created. I am extremely happy with how well everything turned out! She did a really great job.

6. How many people were involved?

Our normal videos don't have too many people involved, but we wanted to go all-out for this Zelda music video. Too many people were involved for me to count, which includes the music composer, vocal mixer, costume designer, set builder, and everyone that helped us out on our two 14-hour days of shooting. -A little known fact is that Ian and I originally sang the chorus part ourselves. It sounded absolutely terrible, and in my head it was "good enough", but my girlfriend convinced me to have someone else do the vocals for the chorus. Thank God I listened to her. So we also had our talented friend Kresta Ria sing the singing vocals.

7. Were the props like the Master Sword and shield custom-made?

The Master Sword and shield are the only two things (in addition to the ocarina) that were not custom-made. Jacqueline did paint over them though to give them more accurate colors and give them an "aged" look. Everything else in the video was hand made including the sword sheath, rupees, heart container, leather wallet, and bomb.

8. What's your favorite part about the final video?

This is a tough one. I love every part of the video and there's nothing I would have done differently, which is surprising because I'm a huge perfectionist. If I had to choose a single part, it'd be when Ian slices me... I mean, when LINK slices GANONDORF and finally destroys him at the end. I can easily tell you what my least favorite part of the video was though: the part where I lick Zelda's face. That part creeps me the hell out.


Huge thanks to SMOSH for answering our questions!