By Daniel Sheehan, Arts and Features Editor
February 4, 2021
Michael Christmas: Not getting to perform Hiding right now is trash. Indhira Taveras photo
On the cover of “Hiding,” an album released by Michael Christmas at the tail end of 2020, the Boston rapper beams giddily from a glowing laptop screen in a shadowy room. The image paints a portrait of a quarantining Christmas isolated in his bedroom, his smile the only thing illuminating the darkness.
That dynamic is reflected in the music itself: Christmas takes time for quiet introspection and bluntly considers the hurt and injustice he sees around him, but nevertheless gives listeners moments of hope and humor that shine through the gloom.