Ten best hip-hop Christmas songs
7. Run DMC & the Christmas Allstars - "Santa Baby"
Run DMC released this holiday treat in 1997 on A Very Special Christmas, which benefited the Special Olympics. The trio takes the lead on a tranquil hip-hop beat with a line-up of stars (Mase, Puff Daddy, Salt N Pepa, Snoop, Onyx and Keith Murray) in tow who all deliver surprisingly good performances. Contrasting the unhurried beat, they each rap about the ills of the holidays for the less fortunate.
6. TLC - "All I Want for Christmas"
In 1993, the A La Face Family Christmas album featured this classic jazzy track from the trio of T-Boz, Chilli and Left Eye. The piano-based beat has a New Jack swing feel to it. T-Boz sings most of the cut, with harmonies and ad-libs by Chilli, and Left Eye also spits on the track. Refreshingly, this song was an original, as opposed to the cover tracks you often hear on these types of seasonal compilations.
5. Kurtis Blow - "Christmas Rappin"
This is the song that launched Kurtis Blow's professional career. With a funky disco beat, the song sounds a lot like Sugar Hill Gang's "Rapper's Delight," as Blow offers up a reading of "The Night Before Christmas" before veering off into non-Christmas related rhymes and crowd hyping.
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