The RAM could be used for things other than audio, but audio on the GC was driven by a dedicated special DSP chip, so it's not weird for that thing to have its

The RAM could be used for things other than audio, but audio on the GC was driven by a dedicated special DSP chip, so it's not weird for that thing to have its own bank of memory. AFAIK the Wii used the same audio chip and I think the Wii U might have as well?