If It's Too Loud...

Photo by Jordan Beckham For the latest single from their collaboration, Michael Christmas, Chris Crack, and Girl Talk have released an absolute party. "Garfield Hated Mondays But Didn't Have a Job" is a lot of fun, and has the sound (and title) that I associate mostly with Michael Christmas. It has a very golden age of hip hop sound, and comes across as both ultra mainstream and underground hip hop. To me, it sounds like a collaboration between De La Soul and Will Smith, but much hipper than that sounds. It has that perfect mixture of laid back and dance friendly, and I simply cannot stress how much fun this song is. Get in your car and crank this one up, and you'll understand just how perfect "Garfield Hated Mondays But Didn't Have a Job" is. Michael Christmas says of the new single: “I’m singing my ass off on this record. Christmas Ruffins on this one. Transcendental vocal abilities between me and Crack man. Felt like Mike Jack singing ‘Who’s Loving Yo...

Photo by Jordan Beckham Being based in the Boston area, we always love to see a local artist do good. We've been fans of Boston rapper Michael Christmas for a while, and it was just announced that Christmas has a collaborative EP coming out with Chris Crack and Girl Talk. This is a dream trio with Christmas and Crack's unique flows over Girl Talk's unique production. The first single from the EP, "Vending Machine Charcuterie Board," is a dream collaboration for any fans of underground or classic hip hop. It's a fun track that's both laid back and dance friendly. Based on this one single, the upcoming EP is going to be blowing a lot of minds once it is released. You can watch the video for "Vending Machine Charcuterie Board" below. Don't Come to My House Sharing Your Location is due out August 14 on C&G Records/Illegal Art, and is available for pre-order here . For more on Girl Talk, check out the artist's website .

"Hold It Down" grabbed my attention because of the inclusion of Boston's Michael Christmas, but it might have made me discover one of my new favorite rappers: Milwaukee's Young Deuces. "Hold It Down" has such an early 90's positive hip hop feel to it. It reminds me of Skee-Lo's "I Wish" or the more mainstream side of A Tribe Called Quest. It's a bouncy, smooth hip hop jam that actually celebrates the strong black women of the world, which is a welcome change from most of the hip hop I grew up with. You can listen to "Hold It Down" below. Son of a Soldier , the upcoming album from Young Deuces, will be out soon. For more on Young Deuces, be sure to check out his website or Twitter .

Photo via Facebook Boston's Michael Christmas has just outed himself with his new single, "Triple H," named after professional wrestler/Executive Vice President of Talent, Live Events and creative for WWE, and Vince McMahon's son-in-law. "Triple H," the song, is far more laid back than the wrestler's personality. It's that trademark laid back vibe that has makes up Christmas's charm. "Triple H" is a kick ass hip hop song about partying while being broke... which is a pretty common theme for Christmas. The song doesn't seem to have much to do with the wrestler, except for the occasional mentions of his name, the "suck it" at the beginning, and mentions of not playing "the game" during the chorus. You can watch the video for "Triple H" below. It features Christmas in a Degeneration-X shirt wrestling with two guys dressed as the Dudley Boyz. For more on Michael Christmas, check him out on Twitter . ...

For someone who spent pretty much all of his high school years listening to rap almost exclusively, I listen to a shockingly small amount now. For a couple of years now, I've been trying to figure out why I like Michael Christmas so much. With his new single, "Not the Only One," I think I might have figured it out. Michael Christmas reminds me of this era and subgenre of hip hop I loved in my teens. A good percentage of rap, especially mainstream rap, is a version of bragging. Rappers have the most money, get the most (and the most beautiful) women, have the best cars, are the coolest, have the biggest houses, etc. For a brief period in the early 90s, there was this little cluster of hip hop that were the opposite of that. People like Del tha Funkee Homosapien and The Pharcyde rapped about life and not always being the greatest. The Pharcyde in particular had some of the greatest songs about not getting the girl ever recorded. This is why I love Michael Christmas so...

Artists doing songs for commercials doesn't have the same stigma it used to. Nowadays, it's pretty much the only way to actually get music heard by a mainstream audience. However, it still feels a bit weird when one of our favorite artists makes a song for a major corporation. Michael Christmas, our favorite Boston rapper who should be absolutely huge by now, did a song for Burger King, more specifically for jalapeno chicken fries. The most shocking part of this song is that "Make 'Em Jala" is actually a fun little song about getting jalapeno chicken fries. Plus, it's a pun, so that's always good. Besides, this was probably a huge payday for Christmas, and there's not many ways for indie artists to get those in today's music industry. You can listen to "Make 'Em Jala" below. Also, be sure to check out Michael Christmas' other music, which is fantastic. You can find out more at his Facebook and Soundcloud .

Seeing as we love free music and all aspects of the Boston music scene, Boston Sessions Vol.1: Beast  is a big deal for us. The Record Co. is an incubator for the Boston music scene. Boston breeds musicians in all genres of music and has an insanely large college population. The Record Co. is looking to reestablish Boston as a leader in the music industry, by promoting bands that call the city home and getting younger people involved in the scene. We're all for that, so be sure to check out their compilation that you can download now for free via Noisetrade. It reminds me of the compilations of the 90s, Like Tonnage or DGC Rarities: Vol 1.  It has the entirety of Boston represented: hip hop (Michael Christmas, STL GLD, Dutch ReBelle), indie rock (Palehound, Pile), pop (Ruby Rose Fox), Americana (Julie Rhoades, Tigerman WOAH), and more. Plus, these are all new and exclusive songs made for this compilation. You can download Boston Sessions Vol. 1: Beast  via Noisetrade ...

Via Facebook Boston's Michael Christmas has a new EP coming out sometime later this month. There's no set in stone release date (ah, the new digital age) but it's expected around Memorial Day. "Paranoid" is the first single, and it's everything I love and miss about hip hop. It features Christmas' trademark laid back style, which is very not Boston, but fits the whole feel of the song. It's about just being up late, unable to sleep while your brain just keeps on going. Plus, instead of an R&B chorus, Christmas is kinda sorta singing, which is beautifully old school. Musically it reminds me more of an 80s radio jingle than the usual over the top banger you get today. It's sparse but fully realized. Baggy Eyes  is due out sometime this month, probably. You can listen to "Paranoid" below. For more information on Michael Christmas, check out his Facebook and Twitter .

Photo via Facebook If I had discovered Michael Christmas' What a Weird Day  any earlier than the last week of 2015, it would definitely have landed in my top 10 of the year. For someone that used to listen to hip hop almost exclusively, I barely listen to anything new nowadays. Most new rap is either too fratty for me, or I just have no idea what the appeal is. What is also strange is that even though I've always been a huge supporter of the local Boston music scene, I've never really been able to get into much Boston hip hop. This might be why I love Michael Christmas. It's everything I miss about rap. It's fun and creative. Unlike 99% of the rap of today, he doesn't just sample a hit song and then autotune a chorus, which is vital for me. Right around Christmas (naturally) he released "Big Ass Smile" for a free download, and you're going to want to check it out. It's a great combination of Outkast and De La Soul.  You can listen to (a...