Let’s Talk About This ‘Space Jam’ Soundtrack Vinyl Reissue

Did you know that the original webpage for the 1996 movie Space Jam remains online, untouched since its inception? You probably do know that, because someone writes about it every year or so. It’s an opportunity to relive your youth, to remember a time when “the web” was, like us, crude and semi-innocent, unbothered by a drip-feed of information about a grinding apocalypse. “If you like basketball, and you like to jam, go no further,” the bright red Times New Roman reads on the “Planet B-Ball” page. And so we go no further. Because we like basketball. And we like to jam.

Our collective nostalgia for Space Jam has peaked recently. Last year marked the movie’s 20th birthday and, alongside the warm fuzzies spread on “the web,” the Jordan Brand released some throwback sneakers, and LeBron James finally signed on for what looks like Space Jam 2. This morning, there’s the inevitable news that the Space Jam soundtrack, which was dope, will be reissued on vinyl for Record Store Day. It’s the equivalent of printing copies of the Space Jam website and organizing them into a glossy coffee table book.

Now, the Space Jam soundtrack fucking ruled. Gold copies of R Kelly’s “I Believe I Can Fly” should be sent into the starry void outside of our atmosphere next to the Collected Works of Shakespeare and an original copy of Citizen Kane, that alien races might see humanity’s potential for greatness. This song is so fucking good. Go listen to it right now. I’ll drop it right here. Go ahead. Press play.

That’s God’s Orchestra you hear there in the intro. That’s an oboe. You may now be halfway to tears, a physical response brought on by the presence of literally every possible emotion suddenly coursing through your veins. That’s alright. Embrace it. I started writing this sentence when the key changed up and changed my life with it—this was once a tribute to the greatest key change in existence—but just now, Kelly let go of that that little “woo!” after the first line in the chorus, the gospel choir rose up and punctuated that six-second “flyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy” he unleashes, and then he had an even more celebratory “WOOO!” to celebrate the fact that he may actually be flying. It’s perfect. There is no way to improve this song.

The soundtrack is stacked, too. D’Angelo’s “I Found My Smile Again” is glorious and funky and if the bass guitar had to point to one (non-Prince) moment in its existence that proved its worth, I’d suggest it motions over here. “Basketball Jones” is just five-and-a-half minutes of Chris Rock testing Barry White’s sexy-mellow demeanour which is hilarious after one listen and really annoying after four and then pretty funny again after a dozen or so.

Plus, there “Hit ‘Em High (The Monstar’s Anthem),” performed by B-Real, Busta Rhymes, Coolio, LL Cool J, and Method Man. There’s no need to oversell that. Oh, and Bugs Bunny raps. Goes hard, actually. “Buggin’” is weird, oddly prescient, and features the following four-line hit:

Like Trump’s wife, up to my ears in carats/carrots
Not even the barber can fade the rabbit (ssso what?!)
See, it’s all good, cause Bugs got props
I’m a bunny, right? All we do is hip hop

So, the Space Jam soundtrack is great. Space Jam is a good movie. You were young once, unsullied by Facebook and the ever-presence of online Nazis. You may wish to soothe yourself with a 12″ record, something that represents both your affection for the past and your move into adulthood. You may think that you need something more than the YouTube links that already exist.

But all of this will lead nowhere. Back on Space Jam‘s website, the “Jump Station” page is crippling. “Cool links and hijinx!,” it reads. “Click above to find out more about our sponsors and the various hip sites that make WB Online the jammin’ place that it is.” I want to find out about these various hip sites. I like exclamation points. I want to click.

“Well, we’ve got no idea how you got here, but you’ve discovered a now-empty page of information,” it concludes “Congratulations. Now please go somewhere else. Thank you.”

Alex Robert Ross is still listening to “I Believe I Can Fly.” Follow him on Twitter.