By Gary Suarez in Newsletter — Dec 26, 2025

Hoe Hoe Hoe

Recommendations of new Xmas-themed drops by rappers BoriRock, Eddie Kaine, and more.

Holiday themed hip-hop drops have become a bit of a tradition, rivaling only Halloween among rappers looking to connect with their fans on a different level.

Now, for clarity, I'm not talking about Run-DMC's "Christmas In Hollis" or Kurtis Blow's "Christmas Rappin'" or even Eazy-E's "Merry Muthafuckin’ Xmas"–which isn't to say I don't fuck with those. Much like Perry Como's catalog, those tracks have become part of the seasonal fabric as much as cashmere and velvet. This time of year, they're sacred and above reproach, and your parents might've even be rocking those tracks on their playlists as they wrapped your gifts this year.

What I'm actually referring to are more modern Christmas classics like Gucci Mane's East Atlanta Santa trilogy, which began with the 2014 namesake mixtape, continued with 2015's The Night Guwop Stole X-mas, and concluded with the following year's proper album The Return of East Atlanta Santa. Unlike earnestly odd crossover attempt shit like Cee-Lo's Magic Moment, the contents of these types of records have a more ephemeral connection to the musical world of jingling bells and one-horse open sleighs, more of a stocking stuffer in an artist's discography than a present under the tree.

From seminal works like A Dipset X-Mas to Lil B's viral Mm Christmas EP and Smoke DZA's less heralded AN ICEBERG BIG CHRISTMAS, this particular rap phenomenon became popularized in the 2010s and continued into the 2020s, with some of the O.G.s of the format pressing on with it to this day. Why, onetime XXL freshman Troy Ave made it an annual custom of his beginning in 2012, and is now on his thirteenth White Christmas installment, if you can believe it. That's commitment.

So as you sit around playing with all your new toys, sipping on that coquito, and waiting for the New Year to begin, check out some of 2025's recommended additions to this holiday music canon.

BoriRock, TWO ZINGS THAT STOLE CHRISTMAS

A sequel to 2023's THE ZING WHO STOLE CHRISTMAS, the Feed The Family emcee caps his highly productive year with a nefariously grinchy, fundamentally grimy set of crime spree cuts featuring Boston area spitters BLUEHILLBILL and Dun Dealy over production familiars like Boneweso and GRiMM Doza.

RU$H & Jay NiCE, FAMILI 7

Though this ongoing series from the polished pair didn't begin as a holiday institution, its stylized shift to an Xmas release date (that started with the third edition) abides with this year's characteristically opulent drop carrying invigorating bars from both artists plus verses by Tha God Fahim and Big Cheeko.

Eddie Kaine & Wavy Da Ghawd, Twelve 24: The Nightmare

Five years later, the consistent Bed-Sty bred rapper (and apparent Xmas Eve baby!) reunites with the Rome Streetz-linked producer behind Twelve 24 for this second badass batch of Brooklyn boom bap, their street-level hustles and luxury indulgences still haunted by the spirit of Jack Skellington.

MoneySign Suede, Parkside Santa 2

Despite his tragic death in 2023, there was thankfully enough unreleased material to put together another Christmastime volume from the Mexican-American rapper out of East L.A. best known for "Back To The Bag," his tracks here booming and vibrant with assists by Zoe Osama and Kendrick Lamar fave AZ Chike.