DMX Gave Us All a Big Gift with His Version of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"

Last weekend my wife and I went to Memphis. Memphis is our favorite getaway. It is close, there is a ton of cool stuff to do, good food and it is relatively cheap. There are a ton of historical landmarks. On this visit we went to a Grizzlies game, hit up Silky O'Sullivan's, had BBQ and pizza and had a very nice brunch.

In the spirit of the holidays, we did a carriage ride and that is always a good time. We did a longer one this year, an hour, and the driver let us pick the music. He had a bluetooth speaker setup and told us we could play music or have him give us a tour. We have had the tour proper before, so we opted for music. Most of the music being played was Xmas music. My wife loves Xmas music and I find some of it tolerable. There was some hip hop and classic rock in there, but for the most part it was Xmas music.

At one point we listened to DMX, who I have a complicated past with, but I love his music. We did his famous stuff and it was kind of hilarious to listen to this hard core hip hop with a ton of people walking around Beale Street listening to every word. But, like a breath of fresh air, DMX's version of "Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer" came on.

I had never heard this before. I have heard a ton of hip hop artists do Xmas versions of songs. Run DMC is classic. I have heard a ton of others. But hearing someone like DMX, whose voice was so iconic and unique, do this particular Xmas song was incredible. It was also one of the funniest things I have ever heard. First off, hearing that DMX did this song as a dare essentially is amazing. The fact that someone said it would be funny to hear him do this, and then he did it, that makes me happy. Then, when you hear this version of the song sung by DMX, it is stunning. It is typical DMX. He has that gruff, grinding and hard core edge to his voice. But then the words start to come out of his mouth and it is jarring. When he starts to sing it, hearing him say stuff like, "all of the other reindeer/used to laugh and call him names", or "rudolph the red nosed reindeer/had a very shiny nose/", it is simply amazing. It sounds like one of his songs done by the world's best soundalike. It is all DMX, but there are no swear words. There are no dog barking noises. There is no reference to demean anyone. It is non-existent. It is just DMX doing a clean DMX version of this classic kids Xmas song. I did not stop laughing the whole time. I was literally doubled over when it was playing.

After we left the carriage ride and got back to the Air Bnb, I did a ton of research. I found out a ton about DMX recording this song. I watched videos of him doing this song. I read articles about the recording. I was amazed to see how seriously DMX took this insane situation.

I think this may be my new favorite Xmas song. I have listened to it a ton since we got home. I do not listen to a lot of Xmas music when I am home doing stuff, but this version of this song has shown up on a few of my holiday playlists since Saturday. I implore you all to go check this out. You do not have to be a hip hop fan or a fan of Xmas music to enjoy this whole process. I guarantee you will find something to love about DMX doing this type of song. And you will find something to love about his full process. Just putting this in front of your face or ears will bring the most Grinch like person some kind of joy. Go, go check this out now. I know you will love it.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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RIP DMX

DMX has passed away at 50.

This has been confirmed by multiple outlets this afternoon. I have been following his situation all week. I saw early on that he was rushed to the hospital, that he was in a coma, that he was in a vegetative state and that they were going to test his brain to see what could have gone wrong. I also later found out during the week that he was rushed to the hospital for a drug overdose. So when the news flashed today I was stunned, but not surprised. I was hoping he would pull through. I thought maybe it was one of the quick internet assumptions that another celebrity was sick and being rushed to the hospital. 2020, and so far 2021 have been pretty rough for people who have achieved some level of fame, but I was still hoping he'd pull through. He didn't, and now he is gone.

This is sad. People will have their opinions on DMX the person and the rapper. He spent a lot of time in jail. He bred dogs to have them fight. He was addicted to drugs and alcohol. He has a ton of kids, a lot of which he did not pay child support until he was forced to. He had many extramarital affairs. He made some bad choices, that is for sure. But he was also a good rapper. He was a famous rapper. He has one of the biggest hits to ever come out. "Ruff Ryder's Anthem" is a song I still sing walking around my house. "X Gon' Give it to Ya" was played in arenas when they had full crowds. "What's My Name" is still played on the radio today. He has one of the most unique voices in rap music. And, for all his faults, it has never been reported that he hit women and children. He was abused as a child, and I think he remembered that, so he did not, to the public's knowledge, lay hands on women or children. That is something he can take to his grave.

It just feels weird that he is just gone. This is kind of like Dustin Diamond passing. One day they are fine, the next they are rushed to the hospital and then they pass away. It is sad. DMX will leave behind his legacy of music, but he was also an ordained priest and tried to spread the gospel. I don't believe in that stuff, but DMX did, and he put his money where his mouth was. He preached when he was incarcerated. He preached when he got out. He preached when he stopped making music. He spread the word. He also was a solid actor. He did movies that fit his style of music, and he shined in some of his roles. He's solid opposite Jet Li in "Cradle 2 the Grave". "Belly" is a hip hop classic movie. He is funny in "How to be a Player". The stuff they used him for in Chris Rock's "Top Five" is awesome. "Romeo Must Die" has him paired up with Li again, and that is another solid karate movie. And you have all the documentaries that he was in, or was a subject of, that explain his style of rap and his life. I enjoyed some of the stuff he was in as an actor. He was able to carve out a spot for himself in both the music industry and in Hollywood. Late in his life he kind of disappeared from the spotlight until very recent, with the news of him being rushed to the hospital. Then we saw a plethora of musicians and actors, and family and friends all come out in support of DMX, and hoping he would come out on the other side of this. Unfortunately he did not. He has passed over to the next plane. He has moved on from Earth, and who knows where he is now.

This is a sad day for the rap community, and most importantly, the people who are in DMX's world. He had a tough life, that was always tough, even when he was uber famous. RIP DMX. You will be missed.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Relive, and Debate, Great Music with "The Rap Yearbook"

Time to download the book about all of our favorite downloaded songs

I just finished another book by another former Grantland writer, and, once again, I really enjoyed it. I just recently finished and reviewed the very excellent "Boys Among Men: The Preps to Pro Generation that Changed the NBA" by Jonathan Abrams. So, naturally I figured another Grantland writer would have an equally as good book. The book I chose was "The Rap Yearbook" by Shea Serrano.

"The Rap Yearbook" was given to me as a gift, and I was putting off reading it until I caught up on some other reading, but boy am I glad that I read this book. It is widely known that I'm a big hip hop fan. I've written about a lot of hip hop groups and have been listening to hip hop for many, many years. This book is a great read about the most important, not best, rap songs from the years 1979 to 2014. It was absolutely fascinating. Serrano is just around my age, so we have very similar taste in older hip hop, but very different taste in more recent hip hop.

Serrano picked the most important song for each year, so it wasn't necessarily the best. It was the most important/influential song during it's particular year. The early years are easy to agree with. In 1979 he has Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight". Obvious choice. Some other obvious choices that are very hard to disagree with, 1980 Kurtis Blow's "The Breaks", 1982 Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five's "The Message", 1987 Eric B and Rakim's "Paid in Full", 1988 N.W.A's "Straight Outta Compton", basically all the late 80's, early 90's stuff is easily and correctly chosen. He also writes a few paragraphs as to why the song is the most important. He points out what the song is about, why it's important, the influence it had, the message it sends, Serrano pretty much breaks down every legit reason why the particular song is the song of the year.

The author and I definitely differ when it comes to 21st century hip hop, and that makes this book great. Serrano seems to think that more popular artist put out more significant songs. I understand why he thinks this. The more popular the artist, the more people it reaches, thus making it more important. I just prefer more underground, lesser known hip hop artists. That's my particular taste. I'd rather listen to Murs or Mr. Lif or Dilated Peoples than Kanye or Drake or, god help me, Macklemore. But, as I said above, I totally understand why he picks those people. Serrano may like more lesser known artists too, but that would not make for a good book for more than half the hip hop listening community. So, in the 21st century, he picks some songs that I disagree with. In 2005, he picks Kanye West's "Gold digger". Yeah, it's a popular song, with a very good beat, but I don't think any song featuring an actor, Jamie Foxx, should be considered. Also, the song is very misogynistic. But, I don't know what I would put in it's place. That's where Serrano has me beat. Serrano also picks other stuff I don't agree with in the 2000's. Stuff like 2008 Lil Wayne's "A Milli". It's a fine song, but Lil Wayne had peaked already by that time and he was definitely on a down swing. It felt more like a lifetime achievement to put him in this book. For 2009 he picked Drake's "Best I Ever Had". Drake is a terrible rapper and an even worse bandwagon sports fan. Drake stinks, his music stinks and he will be irrelevant in about 5 years. Drake does not belong in this book. For 2012, he picks Macklemore's "Same Love". Sure, the song has a very good message, but it is not a good rap song. Macklemore is the biggest poser in the history of music. He is worse than Elvis. He calls himself independent, but he does nation wide commercials and carries himself like a jackass. "Same Love" is important, but not because of Macklemore and I'm sure there is much better, much more important songs from 2012. Macklemore, in my opinion, is as bad as Drake. They are corporate rappers that make corporate, shitty rap music. For 2013 and 2014 Serrano picked two songs I didn't recognize. For 2013 he picked Big Sean's "Control" and it wasn't until I read why he picked it that it was the coming out party for Kendrick Lamar. Personally, he could've picked any song from Lamar's debut album, "good kid, m.A.A.d city" as the most important song of 2013 and it would have been a better choice. In 2014 he picked a song I never heard of by Rich Homie Quan and Young Thug called "Lifestyle". His reasoning was more about the emergence and weirdness of Young Thug than the music. Ok by me.

Another thing that makes "The Rap Yearbook" a great book is the collaborations. In each chapter, Serrano brings a fellow writer or friend in and they give their rebuttal to what should be the song of the year. So, we get at least two different perspectives in each chapter. Serrano isn't married to his choice and that makes him a wonderfully gifted writer. He wants outsiders points of view and ideas. He's open to hearing why he is wrong and why someone else is right. I love that.

"The Rap Yearbook" is a must read for all fans of rap music and music in general. It's fascinating and it brings you back to that time in your life. I knew exactly where I was when I first heard his 1999 choice, Eminem's "My Name Is". I can picture 16 year old me bobbing my head to his 1998 pick, DMX's "Ruff Ryder's Anthem". I vividly remember arguing with friends and family that Jay Z was the clear winner in his beef with Nas, and Serrano picked "Takeover" vs. "Ether" for his 2001 songs. This book is wonderful. Go out, buy it and read it. You won't be disappointed.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is sorry to tell the head editor that 3rd Bass did not make the book. The head editor gave Ty the gas face. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.