holiday
Page: 7
With the holiday season in full swing, we’re surrounded by the wonderful world of holiday music. Despite the deluge of Christmas tunes such as “All I Want for Christmas Is You” and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” Hanukkah music is a lane that not many musicians have jumped into. But some of us surely do have a few star-lit videos, songs and concerts.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
I usually come up with one menorah, or hanukkiah, worth of solid options to put in YouTube rotation, but with the rising antisemitism in recent months by an extremely famous rapper who surely won’t be invited to any Hanukkah parties for the next decade, I came up with two Hanukkahs worth of songs for you.
Time to fry up some latkes!
1. Gangstagrass & Kosha Dillz, “Happy Chinooka (A Hanukkah Song)”
This year we can celebrate the joy of Smokey Robinson’s famous pronunciation of Chanukah. I mean Hanukkah. “How you spell it, how you sound it, it don’t matter how you gonna pronounce it.” The spelling of Hanukkah in English isn’t as important as the educational story we learn. “It started back in 164 BC in Jerusalem with my clique the Maccabees, they got attacked by Greeks….” This odd collaboration, where bluegrass meets hip-hop meets an animal farm in a Brooklyn bar, is a surefire way to creatively bring eyeballs to the holiday, alongside the first ever group of animals against antisemitism. “Happy Chinooka” isn’t a “Puppy for Hanukkah,” but who needs a puppy from Daveed Diggs when you can have an alpaca from Kosha Dillz and Gangstagrass!
2. Nissim Black, “Victory”
If you haven’t heard of Nissim Black, he is probably the most unique man to see during Hanukkah. He plays everything from the Chosen Comedy Festival in Miami for thousands of people to a show at the Grove in Hollywood, and his new song details his personal journey with God and the fight knocking out an Assyrian Greek soldier. A big theme is darkness to light, and you can tell the video was thought out perfectly in this boxing ring.
3. Matisyahu and Brady Watt, “King Without a Crown”
When Matisyahu shot on the scene back in the 2000s, the world drastically changed by seeing an Orthodox guy move crowds of tens of thousands. I’d say you had to be there to see it, but I remember it like it was yesterday. After all these years he just released this collaboration with Brady and it hits perfectly for the time we are in. Matisyahu literally has the name of the main character of the Hanukkah story, and he does the biggest Hanukkah festivals in the world. He is doing his annual Festival of Light tour with two shows at NYC’s Brooklyn Bowl Dec. 21-22. If you ever wanted to see the largest mishmash of a community ever, mixed with a mosh pit, it is at a Matisyahu show and I suggest you go.
4. Yo La Tengo, “Eight Candles”
Probably the most epic group to really crush the Hanukkah scene is our good friends Yo La Tengo. (I am actually not friends with them IRL but I do feel so.) I feel like if there was a romantic evening with that special light in your life, you’d light them up for her or him. I feel the chill of a rainy holiday under an awning. If you dig this, go see them at NYC’s Bowery Ballroom any of the nights of Chanukah. Yes, even on Christmas, as that is also Chanukah.
5. Six13, “Elton Johnukah”
I got to say this is the cleverest spin-off since I did a TV show party with Lil Jon called Lil Jonukah. Now, “Elton Johnukah” might be the only thing to beat it. They flip his “I’m Still Standing” lyric to “we’re still standing,” which is true. Most of the stories of the Jewish people are “we won, we eat,” and I surely eat standing up at Chanukah parties so that is epic to me.
6. Sarah Aroeste, “Hanuka”
Jews come in a variety of colors and looks. Ladino is a beautiful language that goes overlooked but not to the wonderful Sarah Aroeste, who brings her Ladino flair to the fields of Israel. Best part of this is that you can now Google “Ladino lessons” and see the entire translation in the YouTube description. Reminds me a bit of A-WA meets salsa music meets Hanukkah. She’d be the perfect opening act for Yo La Tengo.
7. Zusha, “Chanukah Is Here”
Imagine a bunch of men in black and white hats who mix up the jam band vibes with dance music at a late-night Coachella set. These guys are sort of that deal. They literally say the same thing over and over again but it is kinda the vibe of Chanukah if you jump into Crown Heights.
8. Ari Dayan, “Love”
There should be more representation of Jewish women artists, and a big thing about Hanukkah party music for me is that the song doesn’t necessarily need to be about Hanukkah (but it is cool to know the act is Jewish). The holiday season is about showing love so what better way to do that than with a song called “Love” by Ari Dayan? She mixes a lot of comedy with music and has an old Jewish man dancing in this video you might recognize as Jaddy, aka Brett Gelman. We all need a Jaddy for Hanukkah (not a puppy).
8. Too $hort, “The Hanukkah Song”
“Judah Maccabeatch” is the best reference to a Jewish warrior. Not only is Too $hort one of the best rappers and an influence on my music, but many of us would say he is the only man with a Hanukkah song that has transcended time as long as Adam Sandler’s “The Hanukkah Song.” I first heard about it in 2012 when it came out, and the only thing that could make the Matzo Ball better would be this man performing this song. “It’s even better than Yom Kippur, I got seven gifts and I want one more.”
9. Adam Sandler, “The Hanukkah Song“
Why not have it in here? You are going to listen to it anyway whether you want to or not, and even Too $hort was inspired by this man. It has set the golden standard for Hanukkah songs and earned the praise of music’s biggest Jewish stars.
10. Barbra Streisand, “Avinu Malkeinu”
One of the most iconic voices ever. She needs no introduction, but she does need to be here and at every dinner table playlist.
11. Nissim Black x Kosha Dillz, “The Hanukkah Song 2.0”
I had to include it: This will go down in history as the only Hanukkah video filmed on Thanksgiving last year in Times Square. When a song gets played on Paul Rosenberg’s Hanukkah Radio (yes, Eminem’s manager), it is a requirement to share it with the world.
12. Eden Derso, “Tamid”
If you need to bump the hottest Israeli rapper in the streets it must be Eden Derso. Tamid, for those who don’t know, means “always.” We always need strong bars like this, even if you don’t know what she is saying.
13. Joel Waggoner and Julia Mattison, “A Cutesy Country Hanukkah”
I’m not sure how I discovered this gem but I was hoping for Luke Combs to do the same thing. If anyone can find these people, I’d hire them for my Hanukkah party alongside some cloggers.
14. Kurstin x Grohl: The Hanukkah Sessions 2021, “Blitzkrieg Bop”
If anyone can do Hanukkah no wrong it is Dave Grohl and Greg Kurstin with this Ramones cover. “Ay! Oy! Let’s Goy!” The level of lyrical flip there is so suitable for today. Dive into all their covers (this is their night two); they even got some Lisa Loeb with death metal vibes (or in this case, life metal vibes). It is amazing to see live, which I was fortunate enough to experience when performing at Bottlerock Napa, one of the dopest music festival experiences ever.
15. Run the Jewels, “A Christmas F–king Miracle”
There has to be one song that is talking about the crossover of our holidays for this playlist on Christmas Eve. If I can use this as my warm-up song for when I perform at TAO restaurant in NYC for open bar (seltzer for me) and sushi on Erev Christmas w/ Temple Emanu-El, I’ll be ecstatic.
16. Westside Gravy, “Diaspora”
Last but not least — a song about identity. I think we are at a time to chat identity and spotlight Black and Jewish folks like Westside Gravy, who tackles important topics that are hard to talk about. As we know there have been plenty of articles about Kanye, but no one is spotlighting the musicians caught in the middle. Great for a Hanukkah playlist anywhere in the world.
If 16 sufganiyot jams aren’t enough, I made a Spotify playlist with tons of songs that you can listen to. If you are in NYC, be sure to party with us live at TimeOut Market for “How Do You Actually Spell Chanukah?” and light the menorah with Holocaust survivor Sami Steigman, Shabbat Drop and more on Dec. 20. I will be giving out free sufganiyot.
Rami Even-Esh, aka Kosha Dillz, is a Billboard-charting rapper based in Brooklyn and also a cast member on Nick Cannon Presents: Wild ‘n Out, seasons 18-20. In his spare time, he raises money for Holocaust survivors in need, and recently went viral for dissing Kanye West with his song “Death Con 3.” Say shalom on Twitter.
Olivia Rodrigo shared a Christmas surprise Friday (Dec. 16) in the form of “The Bels,” the original holiday song she wrote when she was just 5 years old.
Even as a kindgartener, the pop sensation shows she had an early knack for rhyming as she sings, “Red and green is the Christmas queen/ Make the holidays special to me/ Oh, see the dancing gingerbread dance in your head/ Wait, wait, wait for the bells to ring there” over a beat perfect for sugar plum fairies.
Rodrigo also shared a note to her fans on her website along with the cute track, writing, “Hi guys!!! Hope everyone is doing well! I miss you guys! It’s been getting cold in LA & things are slowing down for the holidays. I put my little silver Christmas tree up in my living room & it makes me super happy. I’m so excited for the new year & everything that’s in store! I hope you guys have a holiday season filled with love & relaxation. Thinking of you always! All my love, Liv.”
For the past month, fans have been buzzing online that new music could be on the way from Rodrigo in the new year, based on the fan message she sent her top Spotify listeners as part of Spotify Wrapped 2022.
In November, the High School Musical: The Musical: The Series star performed “You’re So Vain” at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony to induct Carly Simon as part of the Class of ’22.
Stream “The Bels” here.
Apple Music announced Friday (Dec. 16) that Alicia Keys is bringing her first-ever Holiday Masquerade Ball to the streaming service later this month.
A trailer for the virtual event — which will stream Wednesday (Dec. 21) — shows the superstar performing a soulful cover of “Please Come Home for Christmas” on the Apple Music Live stage. “Bells will be ringing sad sad news/ Oh, what a Christmas to have the blues/ My baby is gone and I have no friends/ To wish me greetings once again/ Choirs be singing ‘Silent Night’/ Christmas carols by the candlelight,” she sings while pairing a bejeweled mask quite literally dripping in crystals with a sleek, tuxedo-inspired pantsuit.
With an assist from TikTok, the Masquerade Ball will feature music from Keys’ new holiday album, Santa Baby, and include appearances by JVKE and Jon Batiste.
“This is THEE Holiday party of the season,” Keys said in a statement. “I’m grateful to Apple Music and TikTok for helping me create a magic moment to showcase my first holiday album, in such a special way, for everyone around the world.”
Upon its November release exclusively on Apple Music and the iTunes Store, Santa Baby debuted in the top 20 on Billboard‘s Top Holiday Albums chart and has so far spent five weeks and counting on the tally. The studio set — a follow-up to 2021’s KEYS — was preceded by original holiday offering and lead single “December Back 2 June.”
Keys also stopped by Billboard‘s Pop Shop Podcast earlier this month to chat about the album, telling hosts Katie Atkinson and Keith Caufield, “It has a soulfulness, a rawness, it has that New York energy in it too, but it just feels like something you could play from top to bottom. And I recorded it like that; we recorded it very consistently over about seven days, and it all really feels cohesive and great. And so I love it. I think now is the time.”
Watch the trailer for Keys’ Holiday Masquerade Ball here.
Since the business of holiday music is growing so fast – it occupies five of the top 10 places on the Billboard Hot 100 this week – we are re-presenting some of our stories from Christmas seasons past. This piece, about a Hannukah compilation, originally ran in 2019.
Two years ago, Verve Forecast approached Grammy-winning music supervisor Randall Poster (Boyhood, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Irishman) with a proposition: curate and produce a Hanukkah album. “I had just finished doing the soundtrack to the movie SuperFly with Future, and I thought, ‘Wow, that’s a great follow-up: Hanukkah,’ ” recalls Poster, who grew up celebrating the holiday. He started reaching out to friends and collaborators, “convincing them that I wasn’t kidding.”
But it wasn’t until longtime pal Jack Black sent in two recordings — one of which was actually a Passover song — that Poster felt he had the foundation for an album. “Jack gave us the substance, so everything [else] would feel like it was part of a whole.” The additional song ended up inspiring the title of Hanukkah+ (out now, and on vinyl Dec. 13), which boasts a mix of covers and original music from the likes of HAIM and The Flaming Lips.
Randall Poster
Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for SXSW
The market for Christmas music is massive. What was the strategy behind putting out a Hanukkah album?
It’s not an easy thing. It doesn’t have the built-in Christmas music collectors, so we talked about trying to have a longer view — there’s an evergreen quality to it. But also, making it available at nontraditional retailers, like all of the synagogue gift shops, and seeing if we can make contact with the built-in audiences that the various artists on the record have [helped].
How did you ensure it wouldn’t come off as parody?
Probably the most famous Hanukkah song at this point is Adam Sandler’s “The Hanukkah Song.” That’s why I was searching for a spiritual component, which allowed me to approach artists who weren’t Jewish, who had no real sense of the holiday or the history. I tried to find balance, because I wanted to have some of that silly, joyful element.
Was it tough to get artists onboard?
It’s not an easy one where you can say, “Hey, let’s do ‘Baby, It’s Cold Outside,’ ” and set the stage for somebody to just come in and sing. My hope is if this goes well, maybe next year we do another five songs and just add to it. One person that I really wanted to get — he said he would but just got caught up in the sweep of his new record — was Ezra Koenig.
Hanukkah+
Courtesy Photo
Why such fondness for Hanukkah?
It was always the fun Jewish holiday, really. And as far as the musical repertoire [went], “The Hanukkah Song” was pretty much the favorite, or “Dreidel Dreidel.” I had a sense of it being a musical holiday, though there aren’t that many to choose from.
What will success for the album look like to you?
To tell you the truth, I feel like it already is a success. For me as a Jew, it was important to focus on more of the spiritual component, and I think we’ve captured that. I’m waiting for my rabbi to hear it.
This article originally appeared in the Dec. 21 issue of Billboard.
Kelly Clarkson spread holiday nostalgia on Friday’s episode (Dec. 16) of The Kelly Clarkson Show with her cover of “I’ll Be Home For Christmas.”
Forgoing the song’s intro, the talk show host launched right into its famous first verse, singing, “I’ll be home for Christmas/ You can count on me/ Please have snow and mistletoe/ And presents under the tree/ Christmas Eve will find me/ Where the love light gleams/ I’ll be home for Christmas/ If only in my dreams.”
Clarkson previously recorded the track, which was made famous in 1943 by Bing Crosby to honor soldiers overseas during the holidays, for her 2013 Christmas album Wrapped in Red. Since then, she’s also released a couple more holiday one-offs like 2017’s “Christmas Eve” and the 2020 duet “Under the Mistletoe” with Brett Eldredge before unveiling her second yuletide record, When Christmas Comes Around…, in Oct. 2021.
The superstar has filled the week of “Kellyoke” picks with her original Christmas songs as well, including “Merry Christmas (To the One I Used to Know),” “Christmas Isn’t Canceled (Just You)” and a solo version of “Santa Can’t You Hear Me” sans collaborator Ariana Grande. Jewel also stopped by at the top of the week to perform a jazzy “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” when the host was filming from home due to COVID.
Next year, Clarkson will return for her ninth season on The Voice after taking this past season off, opposite Blake Shelton and incoming coaches Niall Horan and Chance the Rapper.
Watch Clarkson perform “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” below.
Kelly Clarkson kept the Christmas spirit flowing on Thursday (Dec. 15) by performing her 2021 holiday song “Santa Can’t You Hear Me” to open The Kelly Clarkson Show.
While she enlisted pal Ariana Grade for the studio version from her second Christmas album When Christmas Comes Around…, the talk show host opted to tackle the ditty by herself, belting out, “Santa can’t you hear me?/ Oh, I don’t need a thing/ I sent a letter to you/ On how to make my dreams come true, oh yeah/ Keep the mistletoe/ Unless below, is what I need/ Oh Santa, can’t you hear me?”
The solo “Kellyoke” number continues Clarkson’s string of performing her own holiday originals, following “Merry Christmas (To the One I Used to Know)” and “Christmas Isn’t Canceled (Just You)” earlier this week. Before that, she handed the mic to Jewel to perform a stirring, jazz-inflected rendition of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” while Clarkson was out sick with COVID.
Clarkson’s been in quite the giving mood on her show thanks to her ongoing holiday gift guide. On Wednesday’s episode, she gave every member of her studio audience an all-expenses-paid trip to Hawaii, with airfare to and from the islands.
In the new year, the superstar is set to return to Season 23 of The Voice after taking a season off for the first time since she joined the show as a coach in Season 14. She’ll be joined by Blake Shelton for his final season before leaving The Voice as well as rookie coaches Niall Horan and Chance The Rapper.
Watch Clarkson perform “Santa Can’t You Hear Me” below.
Look, there are a LOT of holiday songs out there. And we have our chart-based list of the 100 Greatest of All Time Holiday 100 Songs, as well as our staff picks for 100 Best Christmas Songs of All Time. And even that’s just scratching the seasonal surface. For every “All I Want for Christmas Is You” or “White Christmas,” there are a hundred half-assed holiday songs you hear once and happily let jingle off into oblivion. Songs that would have better served the public by exemplifying what is described in “Silent Night.”
But this list isn’t about the seasonal songs that soar or the ones that bore. This roundup is about the freaky festive fare that hits you like a fruitcake: It might leave you with a queasy feeling in your stomach, but its distinct flavor is going to linger for a while. And sometimes it’s the oddball tunes that light up the cloudy night like Rudolph’s nose.
Which is why we’re pressing pause on tasteful recordings from artists such as Bing Crosby and Vince Guaraldi for a moment and spotlighting these 10 Weird Christmas Songs. That means everything from a metal version of a religious classic (by a British knight!) to an instrumental Xmas reggae by a Beatle (who is also a British knight!).
Here are 10 bizarro holiday tracks that will either enrapture your wondering eyes or send you fleeing up the nearest chimney for escape. And if you dig these but want to go even deeper into the wild wintery world of Xmas oddities, check out this Christmas mixtape where long-lost gems and stone-cold classics sit comfortably side by side at the fireplace.
Considering that Christmas music takes over the airwaves, streaming services and charts for much of December, it’s only fitting that Christmas music has expanded over the years to include a whole lot more than just carols and church hymns. Even beyond the expansion of Christmas music into the pop culture realm, holiday music sometimes takes us beyond ice sheets and into the bed sheets. Yes, we’re talking about XXXmas – and that includes dirty holiday tunes that needn’t come just once a year.
When you think about inappropriate Christmas songs, your mind probably wanders to those bluesy Christmas jams about Santa wantin’ some satisfaction. Or maybe you think of parody tracks from LGBTQ artists who do their damndest to make the yuletide gay. Of course, there is also a myriad of hip-hop and rock songs that gleefully inject sex n’ swears into seasonal fare. And sure, we have all those on our list, but we also have a lot more… okay, we have a little bit more (including one erudite takedown of crass Christmas commercialization) but don’t get greedy. More than 10 songs would put us on Santa’s naughty list.
If you want the biggest Christmas songs, check out our Greatest of All Time Holiday 100 Songs list. If you want the best of the season, from classics to deep cuts, dive into our staff list of the 100 Best Christmas Songs of all Time. But if you want some seasonal songs that aren’t exactly appropriate for your family’s fireside, check out 10 XXXmas tracks below.
Back catalogs are big business in this music industry. It seems as though every couple of months you read about another artist selling their music to an outside source, like Neil Young going to U.K. investment firm Hipgnosis Songs Fund (run by music industry veteran Merck Mercuriadis) with 50% of his song catalog or Bob Dylan selling the masters of his works to longtime label Sony Music.
But when you consider how busy the catalog divisions of such revered companies as Sony, Universal and BMG are, it’s gauging out to be a symbiotic relationship where the fan wins out in the end. Especially when it comes to emptying out the vaults.
This year, in particular, seemed to teem with catalog-based titles from some of the biggest names in the industry. And not just rote ‘Greatest Hits’ collections, but immersive experiences that allow fans to explore inside the creation of favorite LP with audio rarities and visual ephemera. Sometimes it doesn’t even have to be a fave, but rather an album so deep in an artist’s discography you forgot how much you dug it in the first place.
It wasn’t easy choosing just 10 box sets to include in this roundup. There was so much that came out this year from which to pick, given the grand carousel of Complete Recordings, Super Deluxe Editions and Bootleg Series-styled lost treasures on display. This carefully curated selection, however, will hopefully give you a good idea of the wealth of product available in 2022.
The days are shorter, the nights are colder and the trees are bare. Inside, fireplaces are crackling to shield loved ones from the chilly air. When winter makes its way back around, sunny days can sometimes feel like distant, made-up memories.
While the gloom can lead to long hours inside as you avoid muddy snow and frostbitten fingers, those languid evenings can transform into quite the cozy affair, given the right soundtrack. That’s why Billboard has put together a list of 26 essential tracks for your wintertime listening pleasure.
We know December marks the beginning of celebrations for “the most wonderful time of the year.” But a good winter playlist goes beyond Christmas trees and jingling bells. The mix should be one you’d listen to all season long — weeks and months after unwrapping your final gift. So no, you won’t find Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” nor any of your holiday favorites below (for that, you can check out Billboard’s Greatest of All Time Holiday 100 list based on our charts).
Keep reading to discover tunes consistent with the mood shift that — for many of us — rolls in with the cold front. The increased time spent with our own thoughts brings on a brooding self-reflection that can feel as comforting as it can feel overwhelming. Artists from Taylor Swift to Bob Dylan to The Weeknd have captured that feeling, crafting riveting wintery melodies ideal for introspection, whether you’re curled up with your favorite blanket or venturing out into the snow.