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Christmas in Hollis

If you know anything about me, you know I love lots of really stupid things. Good Christmas music is on the list. But since I have some sort of self-respect (none), I've decided to make a list of the best Christmas songs that exist with brief explanations as to what makes them so great. These aren't all the standards, but you may recognize a few names.

The Backstreet Boys - It's Christmas Time Again.


A little-known ditty by a lotta-known band. I didn't know this jam until my much-much-better half took me to a BSB concert in December 2013. They were chatty, fun, energetic, and proud of their newest holiday jam. Take a look at the video and tell me they don't look as fresh as ever!

Kanye West (et al) - Christmas in Harlem


Another subtle, understated, insanely popular artist with a song that somehow kinda flies under the radar. Rappers have a tougher time getting into this habit lately, even though the namesake for this article exists and is seen below. Newish rappers have to maintain the edge that made them, you know, tough or whatever. They can't be rapping about nonsense and fun, they have to keep rapping about streets and whatnot. Either way, anytime someone can maintain street cred while talking about going to the Macy's Parade, I'm going to approve.

Quick aside - any list that includes "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" ought to be a list of worst things ever. That song is goddamn garbage.

Let's continue with three more.

Boyz II Men - Let It Snow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCbFpprZYKE

I don't think I need to do much justifying of this one because, I mean, these guys are incredible. It falls a little short of the live version of "In the Still of the Night" but it sure ain't bad. They hit every note, every soothing tone, and every ...well, you know.

The Darkness - Christmas Time


These guys are one of my favorite bands of all time. I saw them live and I'll support virtually anything they do. Their lead singer is the greatest showman I've ever seen and hearing him croon (?) about Christmas is enough to make anyone's holiday season a little brighter. The video has robots, for cryin' out loud. And the outfits! The best.

The namesake of this article....
Run D.M.C. - Christmas in Hollis

This is it. This is the one that changed Christmas for me. These were the biggest rappers in the world and they did a song that included the line "I'd never steal from Santa, cuz that ain't right..." because they could get away with that. You don't even have to listen to the lyrics (which are next-level phenomenal), just watch the video for a sense of the 1980s in all their glory. This was it, man. This is what people just older than me get to properly reminisce about and I'm stuck with the lame '90s and their incredible slate of Nickelodeon TV shows - not to mention the Buzzfeed articles that remind me every day how much I'm supposed to miss something...something that I still see every day on their site. But whatever.

So there you go. Those are my 5 need-to-know Christmas songs. I love them. You should too. Tell me about your favorites if you have some others.

Honorable mentions as actually great Christmas songs:
- Mariah Carey, of course, All I Want For Christmas Is You
- Brenda Lee - Rockin Around the Christmas Tree
- Madonna - Santa Baby (I'll love this forever, shut up.)
- Bing Crosby - White Christmas
- The Glee Cast's rendition of Last Christmas really got me
- *NSYNC - Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays. Duh.
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