surprise albums

Surprise! Chance the Rapper and Jeremih Made You a Mixtape for Christmas

It’s truly the most wonderful time of the year. Photo: Getty Images

Whether you partake in the annual Christmas tradition of gift giving or not (or the holiday at all), this year, there’ll be a present waiting for you under the internet’s monstrous balsam tree. Chance the Rapper and Jeremih have put on their red suits, climbed down SoundCloud’s chimney, and dropped you off a lil’ somethin’ somethin’ in the form of a collaborative mixtape. Surprise! The two Chicago favorites have teamed up for Merry Christmas Lil Mama, which is nine tracks of sexy, spiritual Christmas joy to prove they definitely still care about the mixtape. And from the looks of the newspaper pictured in the studio on Jeremih’s Instagram (plus Chance’s reference to Craig Sager’s death), the tape was made as recently as last week. (Because Jeremih has had nothing better to do.) It features a heavily Auto-Tuned Hannibal Buress (at his request) on the first track chastising us all for not buying presents all year round, plus rising Chicago star Noname, Lud Foe, and Jeremih’s flipped take on the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back.†So, yes, you could say it’s the most wonderful time of the year.

Chance the Rapper, Jeremih Drop Surprise Mixtape