B-Side Weekly: Benny Benassi Featuring Kelis, apl.de.ap, and Jean-Baptiste – “Spaceship”

In this week’s edition of B-Side Weekly, we are going sin and give you readers a tune that ended up being a lead single on 2011’s “Electroman,” a modern staple in the wild world of Benny Benassi. While Benny Benassi has gained modern fame by remixing the greats like Madonna, Calvin Harris, Tiesto, and a few one-hit-wonders/00s pop sensations (Jordin Sparks or Kelis anyone?), his appearance and importance in music stems from the quality of plastic club-bumping synths, and having little discrimination with the type of artists he chooses to either remix or work with. With this impact, Benny Benassi is continuing his career with a high-level of U.K. dance-music fame. On terms of chart success, Benassi can take no bragging rights due to his work mostly facing release in Western Europe, but this hasn’t stopped him from sending reverbs of his across-the-pond popularity to internet-scouring American EDM fans who have taken a liking to his house-infused and flang-y brand of progressive house.

Benny Benassi – Spaceship ft. Kelis, apl.de.ap, Jean-Baptiste

“Spaceship,” the lead single off of “Electroman,” boasts a classic 00s “rapper heavy” collaboration of Kelis (of “Milkshake” popularity), apl.de.ap (of Black Eyed Peas), and producer Jean Baptiste (providing a little mantra at the end of the last few bars). See a pattern here? Chances are you probably haven’t seen the name “Kelis” outside of the word, “Milkshake,” or even apl.de.ap, who is frequently overshadowed by his two other bandmates, Fergie and will.i.am. “Spaceship” upon first glance could be considered a career revitalization of sorts, as Benassi attempts to put one former mainstream artist and one artist who is apart of a mainstream act together to act as a “star vehicle,” of sorts. Most who have listened to Benassi’s self-produced tunes have realized that although he isn’t the pinnacle of his genre for creativity, his consistency on putting out both danceable pop-infused reflections of the time show he can adapt to the current setting of music. “Spaceship” may reek of 2010 sensibilities, but brings out the best from both of its two featured artists: Kelis coos a sweet melody over the softer synths in the refrain while apl.de.ap delivers a soft-spoken rap that almost resembles the style of his bandmate, will.i.am. On terms of vocals, aside from delivering a very random chant Jean-Baptiste doesn’t deliver much aesthetically to the track as you would expect,  but this song marks one of his more prevalent featured vocals aside from his usual position as a producer.

In light of its production, Benny Benassi gives us a familiar recipe of fluffy synths that scream the word, “progressive house,” and it is no question that he feels comfortable with this label. As stated above, the production is nothing flashy, but he works with the creativity he possesses to provide club-friendly hits with an Italian twinge that surprisingly hasn’t impacted American radio in this musical climate. None the less, “Spaceship” only reached #18 on the UK Dance Charts, which hardly left an impact on the public’s memory. “Spaceship” is a great little tune to pull out when you want to show off to your friends that you actually know what happened to Kelis after the boys came to her yard, and what happened to the Black Eyed Peas rapper after Fergie got pregnant and dipped out.

Connect With Benny Benassi: Facebook | Official Website | Twitter | Soundcloud

Connect With Kelis: Facebook | Official Website | Twitter | Soundcloud

Connect With Apl.De.Ap: Facebook | Official Website | Twitter

Connect With Jean-Baptiste: Twitter

Sources: Music VF