Chillin’ and Coolin’
Just Like a Snowman
“Christmas in Hollis” by Run D.M.C.
December 20th, 2014
“Rhymes so loud and proud to hear it
It’s Christmas time and we got the spirit”
My original intent with the project has gone awry. I had hoped to write a about a slew of different Christmas songs — you know, the good, the bad, the absurd — and then write about my very favorite tunes for the last five days of the month leading up to the holiday. Holy hell has that not happened.
So here I am, on Christmas friggin’ Eve, cramming in the last remaining entries. Dammit. Anyway, despite my wanting to make these entries the most in-depth of all, they’re gonna have to be quick and dirty. This guy has presents to wrap, cups to fill with cheer, and mistletoe to stand under (Cause, you know, mistletoe.)
Back to the music…
Everyone needs a cool older brother, sister, or cousin to guide them into the light — the “light” being cool music, of course. I’m lucky enough to have just that, a brother five years my senior who embraced Rap almost immediately (well, immediately for Northern Michiganders, anyway). Beastie Boys, Run D.M.C., Slick Rick, N.W.A., and many others were ubiquitous in our household thanks to him. But this wasn’t necessarily the case for everyone.
Being a young white-bread, cornfed Midwestern boy in the eighties meant that Hip-Hop was still a very new and divisive style of music. So much so that the debate of “That isn’t music!” was still very much alive, despite (or perhaps because of) the clear commercial and cultural impact of the genre.
But here’s the thing that matters to me about “Christmas In Hollis.” It was — and is — cool. Possibly the coolest Christmas song ever. Before this dropped, Christmas music just felt like Christmas music. (i.e., from another unnameable and unreachable time.) But this was different. And the video is low-budget terrific. A black Santa! Elves in red Adidas track suits! D.M.C.’s visibly uncomfortable looking mom! And check out Run’s sweet Trailblazer jacket!
Everything about “Christmas In Hollis” makes me unreasonably happy. Cause Christmas shouldn’t have to just be a rehash of bygone traditions and style. Christmas is happening. Christmas evolves.
And damn, Run D.M.C. looked cool back in the day. Unimpeachable style.
