Xmaz-in-the-Hood (1991)

Here is a twisted take on Christmas, just in time for the holidays. The five-song EP Xmaz-in-the-Hood presents rapper MCm (an acronym for a Man Called Mark), whose idea of Christmas is a little naughtier than nice. It's not nasty, really — just gritty as heck. MCm's got no use for a white Christmas — Kris Kringle, he maintains, is black — and his title theme, it turns out, isn't very festive. Standout: the convincing portrait of drug destruction on the punningly titled ''Ebony's a Scrooge.'' B