Christmas, despite being a big commercial holiday, also serves as some great times to create memories with family, friends and even yourself. As a child, to most of us, it means the world to come out on Christmas morning and see that tree with presents. Growing up, it means less to us and more to others. This doesn’t mean there aren’t more opportunities for different experiences, though.
Seeing how different we all live and grow up in our own environments, I decided to reach out to several of my Rap and R&B peers to ask them one simple question: What’s your most memorable Christmas experience and what made it memorable? See what DJ Drama, Willie The Kid, Harry Fraud and more consider their best memory.
DJ Ill Will: Well, I grew up very lower middle class… So as a kid, waking up to a new Nintendo (yes, the original) on Christmas day was probably the most exciting thing my parents could ever do for us.
Willie The Kid: In 2006, I was stuck in London on Christmas Eve, having to spend Christmas Day at Heathrow. I bought an overpriced bottle of some champagne I never heard of, checked in at Hotel Sofitel and flew out the next day. Its beautiful in the United Kingdom this time of year, quite festive, and despite being away from family on Christmas day, I guess hanging out in the UK a little longer than expected really wasn’t so bad…
DJ Drama: When I got a Nintendo Gameboy ‘cause they was the shit when they first dropped. I want to say this was the first year Nintendo introduced them. First game I got was Tetris.
Planet VI: We had no money; They bought us a Super Nintendo with only one controller and we had to rent games from Blockbuster. We already knew what the gift was under the tree, but our parents made us wait until Christmas to open it.
Torch: I remember a couple months after [Rick] Ross Dropped “Hustlin’,” and the record took off, Jay-Z took Ross on a his first European tour. We all backstage, Ross, Gunplay and I. Gunplay & I just back there spitting bars with Ross and all of sudden Jay-Z walks backstage. Ross taps me and Gun like, “spit some bars”. So, you know me and Gunplay just start spitting bars after bars, going in, and you know Hov so cool and non-chalant with his. After we finish spitting our life out *laughs*, Hov turns around and shakes his head like yeah to Ross and says, “I hear them boys hunger Ross”, so you know we were youngin’s at that time, in our late teens, after that i felt like man, can’t nobody tell me nothing. *laughs* Hov gave us a compliment, but yea i will always remember that.
Harry Fraud: When I was a junior in high school, my father bought me a MPC 2000XL for Christmas. Up until that point I had been toying with beats and DJing, but getting the MPC allowed me to really start putting more complete productions together. It definitely was the start of me really taking production seriously.
Snow Tha Product: I almost feel bad that this is my most memorable Christmas, honestly was when I was young. My parents were getting a divorce, and they were fighting and everything sucked. My dad grabbed my brother and I, and we went to McDonalds and i ate chicken nuggets. I remember looking at my dad’s face, he was sad that that was all he could offer. I was happy ‘cause I got to spend it with my dad and my brother. I’m not a big social gathering type of person. I am uncomfortable in that type of setting. Just hanging out with my dad was good enough. I haven’t seen him in years, so that’s it..
