Kurtis Blow loves Christmas. So much so that when the then up-and-coming New York emcee was approached in 1979 about appearing on a Christmas-themed rap song, he went for it. And “Christmas Rappin’” became his debut single.
Co-written with producers Robert Ford and J.B. Moore, “Christmas Rappin’” is a holiday house party in hip-hop form. And while Christmas music can be lucrative, hip-hop at the time hadn’t yet fully broken out past the five boroughs — although “Rapper’s Delight” had made big waves in mainstream waters just a few months prior.
It was a gamble that paid off. “Christmas Rappin’” was picked up by Mercury Records, which then signed Blow, making him the first rapper signed to a major label. The record sold 370,000 copies in its first year.
The song’s success set Blow up for “The Breaks” — a hip-hop classic that sold 870,000 copies and secured Blow’s place as one of the founding fathers of hip-hop.
More than 40 years later, Blow has circled back to another project combining hip-hop and Christmas. He now tours with “The Hip Hop Nutcracker” as the show’s host and emcee.
The show uses hip-hop and b-boys and b-girls to rework Tchaikovsky’s ballet, “The Nutcracker.” It stops at the Mahalia Jackson Theater at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 29.
“Ever since I can remember, my favorite time of the year is Christmas,” Blow told Gambit. “It’s the season of giving. The spirit of love is all in the air. It’s the time of year where you want to just grab a hold of your friends and your family and hug them and say, ‘Thank you for putting up with me all year long.’”
Kurtis Blow is a founding father of hip-hop.
“The Hip Hop Nutcracker” follows a similar story to the classic ballet: On Christmas Eve, Maria-Clara slips into a dream world with the Nutcracker Prince, battles mice and explores the Kingdom of the Sweets. But this retelling updates the setting to contemporary New York city, uses hip-hop dance, and an on-stage DJ and an electronic violinist remix the score.
The production was co-created in 2013 by choreographer and director Jennifer Weber, who recently received Tony Award nominations for her work on the Broadway shows “& Juliet” and “KPOP,” and writer Mike Fitelson.
After successful early years at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark, “The Hip Hop Nutcracker” now tours the country during the holidays. This year, the show plays in 25 cities. It also has inspired a Disney+ adaptation featuring Rev. Run of Run-DMC.
Blow has been involved since the beginning, when a friend caught him after one of his shows in The Bronx and suggested he check out the rehearsals going on at NJPAC.
“I saw these b-boys and b-girls just breakdancing to classical music, and it had this funky beat under it,” Blow says. “That fusion of the orchestra sound and hip-hop under it was incredible for me. These guys are doing power moves to classical music. That’s why I got down.”
Blow introduces the show and warms up the crowd with a medley of old-school hip-hop songs. And at the end, he comes back out to perform “The Breaks” with the cast dancers improvising.
“We end on a positive note, because it’s all about love and the holiday season,” Blow says.
Along with being a perennial production for many ballet companies around the world, “The Nutcracker” has proven to be readily adaptable. It’s an easy, sweet story, and the score is immediately identifiable, making it relatively easy to update the production’s setting or add a twist on the music.
The Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre has produced a Louisiana-set “Nutcracker” for more than 30 years, and the Marigny Opera Ballet in recent seasons created its localized adaptation of the story with a score by jazz pianist Lawrence Sieberth. (Marigny Opera Ballet will premiere a different production this season.)
For Blow, adapting “The Nutcracker” through a hip-hop lens makes a lot of sense. It opens the doors for audiences to discover music and dance or a story they might not have already known.
“Hip-hop was created back in the day with peace, unity, love and having fun. It was for everyone: all countries, all ages, all religions,” he says. “So we’re going out and reaching audiences. If you like hip-hop, or if you like theater, or if you like classical music, this is for you.”
More than four decades after “Christmas Rappin’” was released, the song is still a yearly favorite on radio stations and holiday playlists. And Blow keeps his own Christmas traditions going at his home in New York.
“We have an annual Christmas Eve party here at my house, and I invite all of my friends and family, and we sing the ‘Twelve Days of Christmas,’” he says. “Everyone [sings] one of the gifts, from a partridge to a drummer, so we have 12 sections of people going. It’s funny, and it’s joyful.”
Tickets for “The Hip Hop Nutcracker” start at $34 via mahaliajacksontheater.com.
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