‘Tis the holiday season, but Hip Hop fans wouldn’t be caught dead adding classic Christmas tracks to their Spotify playlists. Who, after all, wants to hear “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” by Brenda Lee again?
Fortunately, Hip Hop’s finest has its fans covered. From Kanye West rapping about the simple pleasures of the season to Eazy-E keeping it real at all times, Charted has put together the ultimate Hip Hop holiday playlist that’s perfect for any Christmas party, Hannukah celebration, or Festivus for the rest of us.
Some of our favorite songs from the playlist include:
“Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” — DMX
The late, great DMX released an official version of his holiday classic in 2017. Before that, several unofficial versions were floating around the Internet, mostly stemming from a viral version of a remix of the song he’d first performed in 2012. The video went viral when DMX started performing the song by making his beat with a nearby turntable after an interviewer asked him to recite the lyrics to the upbeat song. Today, it’s a Hip Hop Christmas classic.
“Santa Claus Goes Straight To The Ghetto” — Snoop Dogg
Named after the 1968 James Brown song of the same name, “Santa Claus Goes Straight To The Ghetto” originally appeared in the 2002 classic film, Friday After Next, and was the only single from the Christmas on Death Row album. The song is a West Coast Hip Hop classic and features the likes of Daz Dillinger and Nate Dogg backing up the Doggfather of Hip Hop.
“Christmas Rappin'” — Kurtis Blow
“Christmas Rappin'” was one of the first Hip Hop holiday songs, and it was originally released during the Golden Age of Hip Hop. At the time, rap music was considered an underground genre, and Kurtis Blow — though universally respected — was one of its de facto leaders. But it wasn’t a genre that was taken seriously, from a business perspective. Hindsight, of course, is 20/20, and now, “Christmas Rappin'” has earned its place in history.
“Christmas Is” — Run-DMC
“Christmas Is” is the lesser-known Run-DMC holiday track (“Christmas in Hollis” usually gets all the flowers). But the more reflective and melancholy song “Christmas Is” honors the idea that giving is preferable to receiving throughout the holiday season. “Fight poverty, give to the needy,” the lyrics say. A reminder to give cold, hard dough to those in need: “Don’t be like The Grinch because The Grinch is greedy.”
“Millie Pulled a Pistol on Santa” — De La Soul
“Millie Pulled a Pistol on Santa” is one of De La Soul Is Dead‘s most talked-about songs. Unlike most Christmas songs released up to this point — including in Hip Hop — “Millie Pulled a Pistol on Santa” deals with much darker themes, including robbing Santa at gunpoint to give the kids a Merry Christmas. Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do…
“Christmas in Harlem” — Kanye West
Featuring contributions from CyHi the Prince and Teyana Taylor, Kanye West’s “Christmas in Harlem” harkens back to a simpler time, when West was known for being a Grammy-winning rapper and producer and not Kim Kardashian’s ex-husband and an overall crazy person. For that alone, the song deserves a place on the ultimate Hip Hop holiday playlist.
“Ghostface X-Mas” — Ghostface Killah
Ghostface Killah of the Wu-Tang Clan issued a six-song EP called Killah Christmas in 2022. It came with a website and limited-edition merchandise. Even though all of this has been lost to the passage of time, “Ghostface X-mas” is still a beloved holiday song.
Check out the rest of the playlist above!
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