Mariah Carey and Christmas Songs in Hip Hop
|
6 November 2010 | posted by: Rachel Hanson | One Comment
Mariah Carey is the only musical artist who has the ability to combine both hip hop and R&B into a Christmas songs album. Carey fuses classics with the musical styles that have made her famous in her second holiday release, “Merry Christmas II You.” The thirteen track CD was released on Tuesday and includes a festive rendition of her very popular, “All I Want for Christmas is You”. Carey's Merry Christmas to 2 U The first song on the album is “oh Santa” where she beg Santa to bring her dream man on Christmas. The contents of the song are merry but has a lot of pop-style beats and does not sound anywhere near holiday music. Another of the Christmas songs in the album is “Here Comes Santa Clause” which is so similar to the above song, starts with an R&B kind-of-introduction. With Carey, steering away from the music gives it an amazingly refreshing feel. Carey has a highly recognizable five-tiered voice, and never disappoints her listeners in buffet of song styles. The songs that show her powerhouse and notorious runs include “Oh Holy Night” and “Oh Come All Ye faithful/ Hallelujah.” To show that she is in a class of her own she adds a personal touch by revamping “Charlie Brown Christmas” an American classic. The song begins with the original introduction and has an element of childhood nostalgia. Having already had unrivaled success in her first ever Christmas Songs CD, this album was to give Carey the opportunity to be adventurous. The singer took risks in her track lists by creating several medleys of classic holiday songs. Some of the songs “Oh Little Town of Bethlehem/Little Drummer Boy,” and “The First Noel/Born is the King,” do not immediately sound like they would be combined into a mash up. In some instances, the songs sound to be working together but others the medleys fall short of expectations. A traditional New Year’s Eve song “Auld Lang Syne” rendition rounded the album. Carey turned the song into a hip hop dance which is unrecognizable from the smooth original. The album was rounded out with an upbeat rendition of the traditional New Year’s Eve song, “Auld Lang Syne.” Carey turns the ballad into a hip-hop dance number that is unrecognizable from the smooth original. Like any other musician in the music industry Mariah Carey has had her fair share of hits and misses. Releasing her debut holiday over 15 years ago, it will stand to be the better of the two “Merry Christmas II You” risky combination of tracks and song styles, but with Carey infamously strong voices, some elements in the album do not add up in the mold of Christmas songs album. Image Credit: |
Great information! I’ve been looking for something like this for a while now. Thanks!
Leave your response!