Chance the Rapper and Jeremih are spreading some holiday cheer with their newly-released EP, Secret Santa. The five-track release arrives on Soundcloud as a Christmas Eve treat from the duo, who previously teamed up on the mixtape series Merry Christmas Lil’ Mama.
Secret Santa opens with “Safe With Me,” a winter-ready R&B track. “Don’t have to be left alone/By yourself on your own/Girl, you should be in some arms/Safe with me, far from home,” Jeremih sings on the chorus. On his verse, Chance adds, “It’s cold out there, it’s lonely outside/There’s ice on them roads, it’s slippery, don’t slide/It’s frozen outside, it’s snowing outside.”
The project continues with “I Want What I Want,” “Black Santa,” “Gloria,” and “Bless Them All.” Chance and Jeremih teased the project on Instagram a few hours before its release, asking, “Should I upload tonight?” The post previewed the EP with a snippet of “Safe With Me.”
Chance and Jeremih began their holiday tradition in 2016 with the first iteration of Merry Christmas Lil’ Mama. The following year, the Chicago natives shared the Re-Wrapped version of the mixtape, followed by another new edition, The Gift that Keeps on Giving, in 2020.
“We did that project in a week and a half,” Jeremih told Billboard in 2017. “I bumped into him at CRC Studios and he asked what I was working on. I told him, ‘Man, I’m just doing something for my fans for Christmas.’ He was like, ‘Fuck it. Let’s hit them.’ I’ve never been in the Christmas spirit ever. My whole family was dancing to Merry Christmas, Lil’ Mama. My grandpops was dancing to it.”
Jeremih’s heart must have grown a few sizes after the release. Last year, he released a solo holiday single titled “Secret Santa.” Chance is feeling the spirit, too. On Friday, Dec. 26, the rapper will host the “Day after Christmas AfterParty” in Chicago with proceeds benefiting his nonprofit SocialWorks.