Rap Christmas Songs

Rap music is generally thought of as being a type of hip hop music - rap refers to a style of chanting or speaking rhyming lyrics, often accompanied by a heavy bass line or backing track, but it can also be accompanied by a fast backing track in more of a pop style. Rap can span all music genres and as music technology improves, we're seeing more and more new rap songs. You may not think rap is a genre of music that would embrace Christmas and Christmas music, but actually, there's a lot of cracking rap Christmas songs and one of our faves is Big D and the Kids Table - Have Yourself a Wicked Hip Hop Christmas. What's yours?

Big D and the Kids Table are a ska punk band that were formed way back in 1995 when its founding members met in college, and since then, they've played at least 200 shows a year on average - and they are praised for their DIY approach to music in terms of producing and distributing. Big D, Black Element and DJ BC remix a classic Big D song for this laidback ska/hip hop Christmas offering. Perfect for listening to whilst sitting back and chilling with a cold beer.

This Christmassy offering from world-famous hip hop girl group Destiny's Child is a brilliant hip hop version of the classic. It's sped up, making it almost into a rap song, and it has great rhythm that you can definitely boogie to! A great song for any Christmas disco playlist.

This is a brilliantly updated version of the classic Christmas carol 12 Days of Christmas by R&B singer Ginuwine, taken from his Christmas album, 'A Ginuwine Christmas'. The whole album has a smooth rap style and this song in particular is our favourite, with lyrics describing meeting a girl in time for Christmas, making the 12 days of Christmas much, much more interesting.

This song by Ludacris, rather aptly named Ludacrismas is absolutely one of the best rap Christmas songs we've ever heard - and probably one of the best Christmas songs we've ever heard full stop. This is the also the soundtrack to Christmas film Fred Claus, so you may have heard it before - with lyrics such as "I tell 'em all I want for Christmas is two gold front teeth", this is Christmas rap at its very best.

Dwayne Carter, better known by his stage name Lil Wayne, has released several albums and mix tapes since he started releasing music at the age of 17, and even released an album whilst in prison in 2010 featuring Young Money artists such as Drake and Nicki Minaj. He owns record label Young Money and often collaborates with artists from the label on his own records, such as this tongue in cheek Christmas record featuring parodies of some of the top rap and R&B artists of our time, like Eminem, Willow Smith and Chris Brown. Definitely worth a listen, but watch the video if you can.

The Ying Yang Twins are one of the most recent rap groups to release a holiday album, and this album, The Ying and Yang of the Holidays was released just two years ago in 2009. The album is full of crunked up versions of your favourite Christmas classics, including Deck Da Club and This Christmas, but this song is probably our favourite from the album, with cheeky lyrics such as "Can you touch your toes, make your booty roll?"

Juelz Santana, also known by his birth name LaRon James, is an American rapper and producer. This Christmas offering from him, featuring female R&B artist Starr is brilliantly festive and is a great version of the classic. The melody is the same, but the lyrics have been changed - "Dashing through the snow, in a four door white Bentley, through Harlem we roll, on a high speed chase".

Day26 are an American R&B male music group and this festive offering from them is a real slow and sultry number, perfect for having a bit of a slow dance to. If you like Usher's mix of rap and smooth vocals, you'll like Day26 so give them a try!

One of the biggest rap and hip hop artists of our time, Snoop Dogg is 9th on our list with one of his Christmas numbers, 'Christmas'. Snoop's career began in 1992 when he collaborated with Dr. Dre on a number of Dr. Dre's albums, and then his first album actually came in straight at number one in the Top 100 Billboard Chart. This Christmas offering from him is laidback, smooth and full of Snoop's usual cheeky lyrics.

Eric Wright, known by his stage name Eazy E was an American rapper, singer and producer who was part of the N.W.A rap group along with Cube and Dr. Dre, is 10th on our list with this Christmas number, Merry Muthaf****n' Christmas. With lyrics describing a Christmas spent in the ghetto - "When I was young I was the only kid who had enough guts to be, good ole hearin' on the East I'd stay awake just to let America know that Santa was a fake, I used to believe in Saint Dick when Elvis was alive, but all the f***n' bulls**t got played when I was five", this probably isn't the best Christmas song to play if you're with people who are not big fans of cursing!

RUN D.M.C were an American rap group from New York City, and the group are still widely regarded as one of the most influential acts in the whole of hip hop. In 2009, rapper Eminem inducted them into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and they are only the second hip hop group in history to be included. This Christmas song from them samples a number of traditional Christmas songs - Frosty the Snowman, Jingle Bells and Joy to the World and has also been used in a number of films and advertisements around the Christmas holidays.

A typical tongue in cheek example of a hip hop Christmas song is at number 12 on our list, this classic by Clarence Carter, American soul singer and musician. It's not strictly rap, but the lyrics and style of the song are absolutely rap - for example, the chorus of the song goes as follows: "I ain't like the old Saint Nick, He don't come but once a year, I come runnin' with my presents every time you call me dear". The rest of the song also described naughty time spent with a lady but not quite in the explicit detail of some of the other songs on our list!

A change from the rest of the songs on our list, this ever so slightly cheesy offering from White Lightning ft. P-Zilla and Chinchilla is filled with sleigh bells and messages of love. However, we can't quite tell if the song is completely serious or if it is a joke - but either way, it's still a brilliant Christmas number.

T-Pain is up at number 14 on our list with this auto-tuned number describing a Christmas spent with his lady - and all he wants for Christmas is to spend the holidays in bed with his woman, from the sounds of things. A great song to listen to if you're looking for something a little slow and smoochy to dance to this Christmas.

DJ Erb is last on our list with this genius mix of traditional song Carol of the Bells and Soulja Boy's Crank Dat. Obviously the lyrics are not particularly Christmassy, but the two songs actually go really well together - far better than you might originally imagine. A great song to have a dance to, this is another definite for your Christmas disco playlist.