Xmas Real Talk From Grime's Headman

Like many of us, the UK’s Wiley dreads that dead zone of December. Nothing is going on except a million annoying blinky lights and zombie shoppers roaming the streets. Oh, and spending time with family. Or worse, not being able to spend time with family. We are all of us powerless before this purgatorial period, but Wiley, in his role as a grime emcee, can at least tell the truth about it.

Spending that much time with family can get tense and awkward. And the expectations of gaiety can have the opposite affect on just about anyone old enough to know Santa Claus is a hoax. The whole scene can seem jarring and senseless. Or, as Wiley succinctly puts it in his new holiday track “Cheer Up, It’s Christmas:”

It’s Christmas/It’s Christmas time
Everybody eats food/Everybody drinks wine
It’s Christmas/It’s Christmas time
My Auntie feels good/My Nan feels fine
It’s Christmas/It’s Christmas time
Even though I want to leave/I gotta spend time

His words are as a balm to the bah humbuggers of the world, a cleansing catharsis for the cheer challenged. But, as the track reveals, the worst part of the holidays is knowing deep down that you should try to appreciate them. In the end, the song is really about cheering up and learning to love this time of year:

At Christmas be around family/
Or else you’re at home straight angry/
In a good mood/Yeah, I can be
I said a glass of brandy will be handy

And that beat could actually get you in the spirit. There have been many great hip hop songs about Christmas, and this is a new one to bump for seasons to come. For more solid holiday jams, check out our 12 Days of Christmas Music!