"Christmas in Harlem" is a song by

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

recording artist

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer and record producer. One of the most prominent figures in hip-hop, he is known for his varying musical style and polarizing cultural and political commentary. After ...

. The track features rapper

Cyhi the Prynce Cydel Charles Young (born September 15, 1984), known professionally as CyHi the Prynce (also referred to as CyHi Da Prynce or simply CyHi), is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter from Stone Mountain, Georgia. He signed a major label recor ...

and R&B singer

Teyana Taylor Teyana Me Shay Jacqueli Taylor (born December 10, 1990) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, model, dancer, choreographer, and music video director. After choreographing the video for Beyoncé's 2006 single " Ring the Alarm," she signed ...

, both of whom are signed to West's label

GOOD Music GOOD Music (often stylized as G.O.O.D. Music; a backronym for Getting Out Our Dreams) is an American independent record label founded by rapper Kanye West in 2004. The label entered an exclusive long-term worldwide music distribution, distributi ...

. Produced by

Hit-Boy Chauncey Alexander Hollis Jr. (born May 21, 1987), known professionally as Hit-Boy, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He first signed with fellow producer Polow da Don in 2007 as in-house production staff for his l ...

, it is a christmas hip hop song that contains samples of " Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" and "

Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" is the second single from American singer-songwriter Marvin Gaye's 1971 album, '' What's Going On''. Following the breakthrough of the title track's success, the song, written solely by Gaye, became regarded as one ...

", both by soul musician

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. (; April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984) was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and soul singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He helped shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player an ...

, and " Strawberry Letter 23" by singer-songwriter

Shuggie Otis Johnny Shuggie Otis (born Johnny Alexander Veliotes Jr.; November 30, 1953) is an American singer-songwriter, recording artist, and multi-instrumentalist. Otis's composition " Strawberry Letter 23" as recorded by The Brothers Johnson topped ...

. The track features a holiday theme, and features various references to

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

and customs associated with the holiday. Originally released as a part of West's free music giveaway series

GOOD Fridays GOOD Fridays was a weekly free music release by rapper Kanye West, launched in support of his fifth studio album '' My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy'' (2010), and again for his seventh studio album ''The Life of Pablo'' (2016). The original inte ...

, the song was later released as a single onto

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

on December 17, 2010. The song received positive reviews from critics, who complimented its lyrics and compared it favorably to other Christmas-themed hip-hop songs.

Background

"Christmas in Harlem" was produced by

, a producer signed to West's label

. Going into detail about how his connections with West began and how the track's beat ended up with West, Hit-Boy explained: "My boy Dala Roc hooked me up with Kanye’s cousin, Ricky, ..This was around the time when he started working on ''

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy ''My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy'' is the fifth studio album by the American rapper Kanye West. It was released by Def Jam Recordings and Roc-A-Fella Records on November 22, 2010. Retreating to a self-imposed exile in Hawaii after a period of ...

''. I just kept sending him beats to try and get one on there. Then, on the night of Kanye's New York release party, Ricky called saying Kanye wanted to use one of my beats for a Christmas song." The song contains samples of two songs by soul musician

: " Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" and "

", the former being a collaboration with soul singer Tammi Terrell. It also contains samples of " Strawberry Letter 23", originally written and performed by singer-songwriter

. Both Gaye and Otis are given songwriting credits on "Christmas in Harlem" for use of the samples. Before its official release, the track first leaked to the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

on December 15, 2010. "Christmas in Harlem" was later released as a part of West's free music giveaway series

. The version of "Christmas in Harlem" released as a part of GOOD Fridays featured additional contributions from rappers

Cam'ron Cameron Ezike Giles (born February 4, 1976), known Mononym, mononymously as Cam'ron, is an American rapper. Beginning his career in the early 1990s as Killa Cam, Giles signed with Lance Rivera, Lance "Un" Rivera's Lance Rivera, Untertainment, a ...

Jim Jones James Warren Jones (May 13, 1931 – November 18, 1978) was an American cult leader, preacher and mass murderer who founded and led the Peoples Temple between 1955 and 1978. Jones and the members of his inner circle planned and orchestrat ...

, Vado,

Pusha T Terrence LeVarr Thornton (born May 13, 1977), better known by his stage name Pusha T, is an American rapper. He rose to prominence as one half of the Virginia-based hip hop duo Clipse, which he formed with his older brother No Malice, Malice. M ...

and

Big Sean Sean Michael Leonard Anderson (born March 25, 1988), known professionally as Big Sean, is an American rapper. He met Kanye West as a teenager, and signed with his record label GOOD Music, an imprint of Def Jam Recordings in 2007. He gained popul ...

as well as R&B singer

Musiq Soulchild Taalib Hassan Johnson (born September 16, 1977), better known by his stage name Musiq Soulchild (or simply Musiq; pronounced "music") is an American singer-songwriter. His music blends Rhythm and blues, R&B, funk, blues, jazz, and Gospel music, ...

. The version of the track only featuring contributions from West, CyHi the Prynce and Teyana Taylor was later released as a single to the iTunes Store on December 17, 2010.

Critical reception

"Christmas in Harlem" received positive reviews from critics. Giving the song a three-and-a-half star rating, Chuck Eddy of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' stated: "Kanye's tinsel-tinted stocking stuffer sounds uncharacteristically tossed-off, as if he's preoccupied with the Xmas shopping spree he says he's planning. But actual Harlem R&B hopeful Teyana Taylor offers warmth from the wind chill, eventually slipping into the comfy melody from the Brothers Johnson's 'Strawberry Letter 23.' And gruff-rapping Atlanta Santa CyHi Da Prynce promises presents for non-Christian kiddies, too — hauled in a Porsche-speed sleigh." The magazine later included the song in its list of "The Greatest Rock & Roll Christmas Songs", describing it favorably as a follow-up to " Christmas in Hollis", a similarly themed Christmas song by hip-hop group Run-D.M.C. In his description of the track, Andy Greene of ''Rolling Stone'' wrote: "It's only been out for a year, but Kanye West's follow-up to Run-D.M.C.'s 'Christmas in Hollis' is already a classic. With help from Teyana Taylor, Cam'Ron, Jim Jones and Pusha T, West paints a vivid and cheerful portrait of the season." Becky Bain of Idolator wrote of the track: "Soulful, sweet and sprightly, it's one of the most joyful tracks we’ve heard from Kanye . Maybe even ever?"

Commercial performance

"Christmas in Harlem" peaked at numbers 13 and 3 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

and

Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 po ...

charts respectively on the chart week of January 8, 2011.

Charts

References

{{authority control 2010 singles American Christmas songs Kanye West songs Songs written by Kanye West Song recordings produced by Hit-Boy Roc-A-Fella Records singles Songs written by Marvin Gaye Songs written by Hit-Boy 2010 songs Songs written by Cyhi the Prynce Posse cuts