Editor’s observe: The next article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the writer’s personal. Learn extra opinions on theGrio.
It’s Christmas time in African America. The sounds of Donny Hathaway’s perennial basic “This Christmas” or The Temptations rendition of “Silent Evening” might be heard in shops, popping out of automobile home windows and blasting at high quantity throughout Christmas gatherings. Mariah Carey’s annual Christmas wormhole, “All I Need for Christmas Is You” is the soundtrack to many a buying tour, it doesn’t matter what retailer you enterprise to or the place it’s in America. And in the event you’re fortunate, you may even hear some Christmas carolers roaming your neighborhood or downtown, wearing the entire normal Christmas accoutrements however singing songs extra prone to play at Lure Karaoke or the membership than your child’s faculty Christmas pageant.
Such is the world we reside in these days, the place social media and creativity usually converge, giving us new and pleasant methods to interact with tried-and-true traditions. Generally it’s good and novel; final yr in Washington, D.C., lots of the ladies in my spouse’s group — District Motherhued — rolled by town’s downtown and have been caught on video singing Tevin Campbell’s “Can We Speak” on the high of their lungs. Video of them was throughout D.C.’s Instagram and TikTok pages. Why? As a result of whereas individuals are used to seeing Christmas carolers, they’re not used to seeing Black ladies in Christmas onesies singing ‘90s R&B hits as a substitute of “Jingle Bells.”
Different instances, it might depart you feeling conflicted. Such is the case of a latest video and TikToks of a gaggle out of Memphis doing what they name a “Ghetto Christmas Carol” prank. For the file, they’ve executed this for a couple of years now, however it’s my first time changing into conscious of the prank. And whereas they name it a prank, I’m not fairly positive that’s the proper phrase for it. However we’ll get again to that.
Lengthy story quick, a content material creator named Sean Odigie gathers a few of the homies collectively to apply and carry out renditions of what most would name ratchet songs in a Christmas carol method. For example, on this 2024 video, they’re doing songs by GloRilla like “TGIF” — a tune I completely love — and others by Sexyy Purple, amongst others. Their prior movies acquired so widespread that even NLE Choppa acquired in on it.
Now look, I’m all for having enjoyable — and turning a time-honored custom like Christmas caroling right into a showcase for shenanigans is true up my alley. However there’s some extent the place it might simply develop into offensive. It’s playfully obnoxious to indicate up on the mall or Walmart (of their case) and sing non-Christmas songs on the high of your lungs, full with ad-libs and dance numbers. It’s one other factor to indicate up and sing songs that the majority of us don’t need our children listening to in locations the place our children are gathering. Particularly whenever you don’t HAVE to do obscene songs with a view to get the identical impact.
Sexyy Purple doesn’t have a single tune that’s match for any household setting. And I like Sexyy Purple however there’s a time and place for her. I’m not saying each tune must be the most secure tune of all time; shock and awe are the purpose of this “prank.” However, I’d all the time recommend that they discover the songs that toe the road in order to not have folks able to name the police for being a public nuisance. Thoughts you, this group is just not the one one to do that; yearly plenty of folks, and content material creators particularly, get into the spirit of Christmas carol shenanigans and pranks.
Additionally, what makes doing this a prank anyway? There’s no “gotcha” on this state of affairs in any respect. It’s executed purely to disarm by being carolers who then disrupt by singing probably the most obscene songs doable in entrance of amused Black folks and uncomfortable white folks. Is it amusing? Sure, very a lot. But when I have been a type of people buying and I had my children in tow, I’d have been aggravated — not into motion, however I might have moved on as a result of, sooner or later, the joke will get outdated actual fast.
When my spouse’s group sang “Can We Speak,” it acquired the eye of plenty of folks for the sheer spectacle of it. Who carols with R&B jams? However it is also form of cool to see folks flip issues on their head to create new enjoyable. But when your intention is to be as inappropriate as doable, what new enjoyable does that really create? Like what’s the purpose? Is it purely to shock folks? If that’s the case, to what finish? What does rapping lyrics to probably the most lewd songs at Walmart show or display? I suppose generally doing the factor as a result of you’ll be able to is all the rationale you want.
Possibly I’m simply getting outdated. I really feel like 25-year-old, single, childless me would get a kick out of seeing that, whilst I watched some dad and mom attempt to usher their children away as rapidly as doable. I might have taken nice pleasure within the supervisor of some retailer attempting to cease the “carolers” as they acquired louder and extra obnoxious for the sake of it. However I’m 45 now and vulnerable to ask “What’s the purpose?” about much more issues now. It’s giving white, frat boy ranges of obnoxiousness, a model that the majority Black folks can’t stand and even white folks discover annoying. Being offensive for the sake of it stops being entertaining actually shortly after all people will get the gag.
There’s a lot raunchy R&B music out these days that’s sitting proper there to present the Christmas carol remedy which may not even be observed by the parents who aren’t on TikTok or into present rap and R&B. They might jam out to a few of these songs which might be full of innuendo, usually not covert in any respect, and the confused faces throughout can be smiling whereas attempting to determine what’s taking place. If you sing and rap songs about genitalia, nicely, plenty of folks get it and recover from it actual rapidly and are merely aggravated that their buying or no matter is being disrupted.
I do know younger individuals are going to do younger folks issues and they need to; I simply assume that there’s a greater method to do that that doesn’t need to be so deliberately offensive for the sake of it whereas nonetheless attaining the aim of “pranking” folks.
Then once more, possibly I’m simply getting outdated.
Panama Jackson is a columnist at theGrio and host of the award-winning podcast, “Expensive Tradition” on theGrio Black Podcast Community. He writes very Black issues, drinks very brown liquors, and is fairly fly for a lightweight man. His largest accomplishment to this point coincides along with his Blackest accomplishment to this point in that he acquired a cellphone name from Oprah Winfrey after she learn one in every of his items (largest) however he didn’t reply the cellphone as a result of the caller ID mentioned “Unknown” (Blackest).
