Hip-hop Christmas albums are a lovely art form that, unfortunately, we do not get enough of. There's quite an extensive history of Christmas-themed rap songs - many of which we just compiled into a Spotify playlist - but rarely do we get full bodies of work to bump around this time. This year, we were gifted with Gucci Mane's East Atlanta Santa 3 and Smino's two-pack High 4 Da Highladay's EP, both of which enlivened the holidays.
Cleveland rapper, CHXPO, wished to make his own contribution to the Christmas canon with A Bloody Boy Bhristmas Story. The 24-track mixtape dropped on December 24. While this would have been ideal for those who wanted to blast it in the kitchen after family dinner, the Christmas spirit is slightly lacking on here. It's a Christmas album only in name, as it's missing any elements in the productions or lyrics to make it qualify. No jingle bell-based trap beats or toying with holiday themes. However, the project still slaps. The songs can be sludgy and lo-fi, or CHXPO can be abrasively spitting over in-your-face production. He enlists rap prodigy Matt OX, Ski Mask The Slump God, Lil Wop, Nell for features. It may not be a perfect Christmas project, but it's definitely suitable to usher in the new year.