Epic Records released Epic Presents: Holiday Radio on Friday, Oct. 30, putting out a 14-track holiday compilation built around GIVĒON, Mariah the Scientist, Coi Leray, Lucky Daye, BIA, Meghan Trainor and Mimi Webb. The label said the project gathers artists known for heartfelt R&B, energetic rap and pop, making it a broad seasonal snapshot of its roster.
The release matters now because it lands squarely at the start of the holiday music cycle, when labels begin pushing the songs they want people to carry through the season. For listeners searching for leray, the project gives her a new place on a lineup that also includes artists with strong pop and R&B identities, and it does so in a package designed to travel well across streaming playlists and year-end listening.
Epic has done this before. In 2014, it released I'll Be Home For Christmas, a seven-song EP curated by L.A. Reid, and that set mixed holiday standards with label artists' own takes on the season. Fifth Harmony covered Mariah Carey's 'All I Want for Christmas Is You,' Tamar Braxton handled 'Sleigh Ride,' Fiona Apple took on 'Frosty the Snowman,' and Meghan Trainor appeared with 'I'll Be Home,' a song she wrote and produced. The new compilation follows that same instinct: pair recognizable names with songs that already fit the calendar.
That is also where the project gets interesting. Several of the artists on Epic Presents: Holiday Radio had already recorded holiday material on their own before this release, so the compilation is not introducing them to the season so much as gathering them under one label banner. GIVĒON recorded 'O Christmas Tree' for Apple Music in 2020 and later followed with 'The First Noel,' which first appeared as an Amazon Music exclusive a couple of years later. Mariah the Scientist released 'Christmas In Toronto' in December 2022, using the holiday setting to reflect on a relationship. Coi Leray teamed with Dess Dior and Maliibu Miitch on 'Merry Xmas' in 2020 and revisited 'TWINNEM' with a holiday version featuring a gospel choir in 2021.
So the release is both a new compilation and a reminder that Epic's roster has already spent years making its own winter songs. What remains unanswered is track-by-track: the label has not spelled out which artist sings which cut on the 14-track set, leaving the compilation defined more by its lineup than by its full song map.
