Compilation Review – Christmas Rap

Year of Release: 1987

Record Label: Profile Records

Merry Christmas, people. Here I am in my final review for this year’s Christmas/Holiday special. I couldn’t get some albums that I was thinking of reviewing in time, but I did get this one in time, however, so I figured why not close it out with a bang.

This may be the oldest album that I have reviewed thus far, and I know it won’t be my last, either. I also believe that this may be the very first Christmas-themed hip-hop album. So let’s get to it.

The first song on this album is “Christmas in Hollis” from Run-DMC. This may have been one of the better known Christmas rap songs. Hell, it was played in Die Hard, which was fitting in some areas depending on which way you look at it. Run-DMC were definitely big in the 1980’s, and it was actually a catchy tune that could get you in the spirit, especially with the lyrics in the song. I am not sure if I could say the same thing about the following track, “Let the Jingle Bells Rock” from Sweet Tee, however. I am a little unfamiliar with her and while she didn’t do a bad job in her delivery in her song, the lyrical content was a little more to be desired. For example, part of the chorus, which went, “What? You didn’t know didn’t know Christmas went hip-hop? Check the clock, and let the jingle bells rock,” got a little old fast. It wasn’t terrible, but it got repetitive. Though I will say that she did well in the delivery of her rapping.

As far as others go, one that was actually decent was “Dana Dane is Coming to Town,” from, you guessed, Dana Dane. I know that a lot of people had said that he bit Slick Rick’s style back in the day, not to mention that he used a fake British accent, despite the two being friends, but regardless of that, he still did a good job on the song. It was a silly track, but it’s definitely one that stands out in some ways.

However, the rest of the album is filled with some people whom I had never heard of. One track that kind of got my head bumping was “Christmas in the City” from King Sun-D Moet, which had an interesting sample of “Silver Bells” in the beat. He didn’t do badly on the lyrics, either. The same could be said about “Chillin’ with Santa” from Derek B, which had a sample of “Jingle Bells.” It was a fun track. However, “He’s Santa Claus” from Disco 4 was another track that had a “Jingle Bells” sample, but it had more of a synthesized beat to it and it was kind of cheesy.

Then you had some tracks that could have better. One good example was Spyder-D’s “Ghetto Christmas,” which made me feel that I was listening to some who was a wannabe of Kool Moe Dee, with a touch of Ice-T thrown in. “That’s What I Want For Christmas” didn’t need to be as long as it was, nor did it need a sample of “White Christmas.” It would be simple just to say that it was not a good song, but there was more to it. I didn’t mind the rapping, but really, it was not a great track that can be skipped. The final track on the album was more or less a mixed bag, as the Surf MC’s had their track with a synthesized beat that overshadowed the lyrical content. The beat was good, but the same cannot be said about the lyrics.

Overall, this album was a mixed bag. The first few tracks were more or less the best ones, while the final few tracks were filler at best.

Check out the back artwork.