Concerning how the song earned its popularity, Kurtis Blow and Russell Simmons said:

After we made “Christmas Rappin'”, we went out to twenty-two different labels trying to sell this record. They said no. So, we knew that Frankie Crocker was the number one DJ in New York City, WBLS. We found out Frankie used to hang out after work at a club called Leviticus. Russell said, “Look, this is what we gonna do. We gonna take this record and we’ll pay the DJ. When Frankie comes in and sits at the bar, gets his first drink, we want the DJ to play the record, we gonna have a whole college crew in the house and we just gonna lose our mind when the record comes on.” Russell said, “Now, let’s go”, and the DJ threw on “Christmas Rap”. The crowd went crazy, everybody’s dancing and doing their best move. Frankie’s like, “What is this?”. He got up, went over to the DJ, he said, “What’s the name of that song?”. The guy says, “It’s "Christmas Rappin'”, it’s the artist right there, Kurtis Blow.“ He shook my hand and, "Nice to meet you, young Kurtis”.

– Kurtis Blow, Hip-Hop Evolution

And on Christmas morning, Frankie Crocker played the record. I couldn’t believe it. I was upstairs, I was smoking a joint in the attic. “Oh, shit”, I ran downstairs and there it was, “Christmas Rappin'” on the radio. Next thing I know, I was on a plane going to Amsterdam. The record was playing all over Europe.

– Russell Simmons, Hip-Hop Evolution