There are two kinds of people in this world. People who cannot wait for Christmas music to become the soundtrack to our daily lives for the better part of six weeks and people who cannot stand it.
Much of the problem stems from the fact that, for the most part, you’re hearing the same seven or eight songs over and over and over. You might hear different versions of each song, but the beats, patterns, and lyrics bore their way into your skull in a way that makes it impossible to enjoy almost anyone’s take on these tepid tunes, regardless of the festive occasion.
We say almost, however, because every once in a while we’re introduced to a Christmas song cover so refreshing, so breathtaking, it makes you wonder how we ever found joy in the holiday season before now.
Wednesday, Spotify released a holiday edition of their Spotify Singles series that includes many of the pop artists you’d expect to see doing Christmas covers, including Sam Smith, Norah Jones, Miley Cyrus, and Demi Lovato. But mixed amongst the generic redos is one cover that stands above them all and reminds us of the true magic of the season.
We’re of course talking about DMX’s cover of “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer.”
Imagine going back to 1998 and trying to convince DMX fans obsessed with It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot that one day he’d be signing about a magical reindeer with a nose so bright that Santa Claus personally asks him to guide his sleigh as he distributes gifts for all the boys and girls of the world.
To be fair, we could have used a few more barks and “grrrr’s” in there, but when it comes to DMX and earnest Christmas songs, you take what you can get.
[Spotify]
