‘Spaceship’ is another song from Kanye West’s The College Dropout that I found myself having to listen to on a frequent basis back in ’04. It’s a story I’ve told in a few of the other songs from the album here: My sister got the album as a present, she played it on the computer, my computer had these nice but unnecessary speakers my uncle set up. The song played; I’d be lying around somewhere nearby. And I think my sister would spontaneously start singing the chorus at random points too. So she was a fan. Big into The College Dropout. Me, it took a few years to catch up. I was well in my long-lasting rock phase. Back in 2004, I was probably listening to The Darkness or something. That was a good year to be a fan of that band.

I caught up, though and got to appreciate ‘Spaceship’ for the song it was/is, which is one listing the struggles of the three performing artists who were sick of working in their dead-end jobs and looking for any kind of escape that would help them to achieve the great things they know their destined for. In the first verse, West details his less-than-pleasant experiences from working at the mall, his disdain for the manager, and his self-belief that the work he was putting into his beat-making would save him in due time. GLC makes clear his own conflict about having to portray a clean-cut image for his peers while also being a man in the streets who usually has to carry a piece for his own protection. Consequence tells a story of one of his co-workers seeing but not recognizing him in a Busta Rhymes music video, and makes note that however soul-sucking his job might be, he’s putting in the grind until things truly take off for him. All of this over a beat made via chopping up Marvin Gaye’s track, ‘Distant Lover’. A hypnotizing bass line, I could listen to that by itself all day.

The track was very, very close to being a single from The College Dropout. Had a music video made for it and everything. But by the time it was to have been released, West was well underway working on what was to be his second album. So plans were shelved. He also didn’t like the video all that much. The general public didn’t know about its existence until 2009, when GLC posted it on his blog. And in 2020, West posted it on his website to commemorate the announce of his fashion brand’s partnership deal with The Gap. He’d made his peace with the video at that point. In another world, with a ‘single’ status, I guess a lot more people would know about the song. But people in the know, know, and we can all take some pride in that. Oh, and a big mention has to go to the vocal harmonies by singer Tony williams during the choruses. Those, from what I remember hearing, were a very last-minute addition. A very, very nice addition, gotta add.