I have a love/hate relationship with holiday music. Sure, it's fun to think about, but the holidays bring together a combination that I find sonically lethal: singing children. I think of horror films when kids sing, and sadly most holiday songs involve some sort of a choir asking Santa for a miracle. It's just all around upsetting. The rest are usually from artists no longer with us, singing about some memory about a love lost, someone's sick for the holidays, a child is selling matches. Whatever. Tis the season to be sobbing? Nah, not me. Thankfully, over the years, Hip-Hop has offered us the opportunity to have something fun to listen to while hanging stockings or whatever else you're supposed to do while carols are playing. So pour a hot toddy and check these songs out. I added a few non-rap tracks for all you holiday saps. Oh yes, and Happy Holidays to you and yours!  

After leaving SRC Records in favor of Def Jam this fall, Asher Roth gives us "Pabst & Jazz," the latest in his series mixtapes that acts as an appetizer for his upcoming full album, "Is This Too Orange?" As with many artists these days, "mixtape" actually means "a real album that we're not making you pay for" (download link after the jump) so the tracklist is made up of 16 full songs instead of freestlyes and street-mixes. Produced primarily by Blended Babies, Pabst & Jazz shows some good forward momentum for Asher in 2012 but still incorporates the strengths that brought him to the scene in the first place. 

First things first, the song is called "Strip," so I knew not to expect anything more than at least one half-naked woman. Ultimately, there are about 100 but - surprisingly - no stripper pole because, you know, Chris knows how to practice restraint. 

Who: Danny Brown

From: Detroit, MI

Why You Should Get To Know Him: Because he lost a deal with 50 due to tight pants.  

Produced entirely by Dion “No I.D.” Wilson, “The Dreamer/The Believer” is in many ways a homecoming for Common. Wilson also produced the majority of “Resurrection” and “One Day It’ll All Make Sense”—Common’s second and third albums, widely regarded as two of his best—so rekindling the working relationship is an obvious first step towards assuring fans that Common hasn’t gone Hollywood. Having crafted mega-hits for Kanye West and Jay-Z, Wilson s still a relevant producer in the modern age, however, so the two were able to create an album that pulled from the best of the early 90s and add it to the best of today.

For one week only, you can listen to the entirety of "The Dreamer/The Believer" right here on MSN by clicking this link so if you haven't heard the album yet, there's no better way to spend the next hour of your day. The album is available now in stores and for download, so grab a copy of your own soon because the preview will only last a week! Read on for more info: 

 

When Robin Thicke finally hit the stage at New York's Highline Ballroom last Friday night (Dec. 9), the shrieks came from all ends of the room, from women of all ages and, as the singer himself noticed, races. "And there's white people in here tonight! This is rare! I must be blowin' up or something!" Oh Robin, always so modest. 

Photo by Christian Vasquez

Who: J57

From: Brooklyn, NY (by way of Long Island)

Why You Should Get To Know Him: Because DJ Premier already does.  

Over two years ago, Erykah Badu announced that she'd be creating the Cannabinoids, an improvisational jam band comprised of fellow Dallas DJs, musicians and producers. No one knew what to expect, but considering that the new multi-syllabic name references the chemical compound found in weed (the one responsible for making its partakers feel so, well, gooood), fans assumed that they'd be taken on a trip. One helluva an hallucinogenic trip. This is now The Wiz, she is a "Poppy Girl" and we've just been put under with a psychadelic dusting powder. Or so we'd hoped.