East Atlanta Santa 3

Despite the number in its title, East Atlanta Santa 3 is actually the fourth installment of Gucci’s beloved holiday series, following 2016’s The Return of East Atlanta Santa. Leave it to Gucci to mine the culture of Christmas endlessly, once again supplying a wealth of metaphors conflating ice, snow, and delivering packages with life as a successful drug dealer. They jump out in EAS 3 on songs like “Jingle Bales Intro,” “M’s on Ice,” and “12 Days of Christmas.” It’s not all season’s greetings, though; Gucci unzips the Santa suit to reveal a mesh marina on “Drummer,” where he trots out his best patois alongside Jamaican deejay Kranium. And then there are moments like “Snow,” where hearing Gucci rap about workers chewing coca leaves to stay awake over a masterfully warped sample of Boyz II Men’s “Let It Snow” will leave you wishing the East Atlanta Santa came more than once a year.