Boston’s Michael Christmas has been a rising voice for the city since the release of his charismatic mixtape Is This Art a few years back. He keeps things light hearted, but still looks inward before speaking outward. What I mean by this is before Christmas is critical of other’s sounds or braggadocios in his raps, he’ll take a jab at himself first. This has always been a quality that we’ve admired because it’s real. Not every rapper is living like Lil Baby and Michael is here to remind us that. In just ten cuts we hear the most refined variation of Christmas to date and Hiding is truly a special moment.
With features from Kota the Friend and the brilliant Van Buren representative Luke Bar$, only top-tier stylings reside here. Some personal favorites are the obvious “Nissan Altima” produced by two legends, Thelonious Martin and Tee-WaTT. “Ugly” is beautifully painful basking in insecurity, but trying to laugh through the pain. “I Quit” is a pairing of infectious snare rolls and ambient synthetics. “It ain’t no algorithm in these streets”, and that is some heavy facts right there, my friends.
With more production from Lucas Biewan, Monro, Rilla Force, Beat Butcha, Beatnick Dee and Teddy Roxpin, “Hiding” is an illuminating project from both the vocal and instrumentation standpoint. With that being said my fat ass will get out of the way and let you enjoy this shit, peep the gas below.
