Unplanned Christmas by SUPER SAIYAN JAY is a tongue-in-cheek interpretation of traditional Christmas songs, revitalised with modern flair and lyrical dexterity. It shows off two confident hip-hop bangers. Jay takes the sounds of Christmas, for example, the bells ringing and staccato strings, molding them into more modern tracks, sonically and thematically. He turns traditionally Christmas-related phrases on their head, injecting hip-hop context and themes to shake up the holiday season.
The first track, Deck The Halls, conveys an aggressive confidence while fully committing itself to the timbre of Christmas. The song even uses some of the original "Deck Halls" samples in its melody. I like the double entendre of lines like “hitting these house quick” - referring to Santa's rigorous schedule while maintaining that nefarious undertone. Although the bass brings the track to life, I like Jay’s flow over the piano. It shows his ability to create rhythm through his delivery alone because his vocals change the energy of the instrumental before the bass gives the game away. The bass has this heavy distortion that fills out the low end and contrasts the Christmas timbre nicely.
The second track, Wish List, changes the tone. It is a sleazy, romantic Christmas banger. It feels like it has a more upbeat vibe than Deck The Halls. The faster-paced rhythm and higher register allow the track to stand out and show more emotional complexity through the lyrics and delivery. The line “You can get what you want because I got what you need” is delivered with a high register harmony that emphasises the importance of the line and builds the sense of emotion, letting those feelings into the delivery through the high register harmony.
These two tracks show great range in terms of emotion and confidence when it comes to delivering hip-hop bangers. The delivery and the complex wordplay work from beginning to end.
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