The holidays are upon us once again, and the collective groan of holiday music-haters can be heard over silent nights. But amongst the endless sea of Mariah Carey, Justin Bieber, Michael Bublé and Frank Sinatra holiday albums lie some diamonds in the rough. If you are tired of the same old Mariah Carey holiday hits, this is the playlist for you. Tune into this playlist for frosty flows, a blizzard of beats and jolly jams that’ll get you singing jiggy-bells.

Hip-hop holiday playlist:

1. “Player’s Ball” (Christmas Day) by OutKast - Single


2. “MF Grinch” by MF Doom and Cookin Soul - MFChristmas

3. “Christmas in Hollis” by RUN DMC - Tougher than Leather-Expanded Edition

4. “Merry Muthaf***in Christmas” by Eazy-E - 5150 Home 4 Tha Sick

5. “Santa Baby” by RUN DMC, Mase, Diddy, Snoop Dogg, Salt-N-Pepa, Onyx and Keith Murray - A Very Special Christmas 3

6. “Ghostface Xmas” by Ghostface Killah - GhostDeini the Great (Bonus Tracks)

7. “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” by Tyler, the Creator - Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch OST

8. “Light’s On” by Tyler, the Creator, Santigold and Ryan Beatty - Music Inspired by Illumination & Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch

9. “Christmas Rappin’” by Kurtis Blow - Kurtis Blow

10. “Christmas in Harlem” by Kanye West, Prynce Cy Hi and Teyana Taylor - Single

11. “Ballin’ on Christmas” by Jim Jones - A Dipset Christmas

12. “A Christmas F***ing Miracle” by Run the Jewels - Run the Jewels

13. “A Pimp’s Christmas Song” by Snoop Dogg, Jake the Flake and Magic Juan - Christmas in the Dogghouse

Each of these songs have been chosen to inspire you in creating your own hip-hop holiday playlist. Every album except for DOOM XMAS and the song, “Player’s Ball” can be found on Spotify. The other songs and albums can be found on either bandcamp or YouTube. Explore the albums that each of these songs are from, as this playlist was created out of pure opinion and other great tracks were left out for you to discover.

If you are looking for icy bars about the holidays, look no further than MF Christmas. MF Doom is no stranger to rhyming and gives us the greatest gift of all on 2018’s MF Christmas. This is a personal choice for a favourite Christmas rap album and a strong recommendation to lyric lovers.

Of course, many great hip-hop holiday albums exist today; the prior list was simply a taste of what rap has to offer the holidays. If you are not a rap fan, a good alternative to the typical holiday music would be to look toward the works of Otis Redding and Stevie Wonder — beautiful, soulful music. Below are seven more full albums to cure your holiday blues:

1. MF Christmas by MF Doom & Cookin Soul

2. Christmas in the Dogghouse by Snoop Dogg

3. A Dipset Christmas by Jim Jones

4. Music Inspired by Illumination & Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch by Tyler, the Creator

5. Christmas on Death Row by Various Death Row Records Recording Artists

6. Christmas Rap by RUN DMC, Dana Dane, Spyder D and other artists

7. Badd Santa presented by Peanut Butter Wolf, performed by Peanut Butter Wolf, James Brown, Coco Tea and more