Rating:
Genre:
Holiday
Release Date: 11/24/2008
A holiday collection from the funky fringe,
Badd Santa is a collection of Christmas songs -- plus one polyrhythmic Kwanza number -- compiled by left-field hip-hop producer and
Stones Throw label owner
Peanut Butter Wolf. Old-school hip-hop is represented by b-boys like
Super J and the long lost
Scoopy, while the
Quad City DJ's bring the booty music for a track that's basically "Whoop! There Santa Is!." The soul is brought by
the Soul-Saints Orchestra's slow roller
"Santa's Got a Bag of Soul" and
James Brown's
"Go Power at Christmas Time," which
Peanut Butter Wolf points out in the liner notes is a much more satisfying track than the usual choices for
JB (
"Soulful Christmas" and
"Santa Goes Straight to the Ghetto"). Rounding out the set are a sweet reggae number from
Cocoa Tea, childhood memories of Peanuts' television specials by way of
Vince Guaraldi, a back to the future throwback with '60s synth man
Bruce Haack, plus a handful of even more eccentric cuts including the very ugly
"My Lovely Christmas" from
Baron Zen. File this fascinating oddball between
Run-D.M.C.'s
"Christmas in Hollis" and the
John Waters Christmas album.
~David Jeffries, All Music Guide