In a recent interview with Billboard, members of The Roots, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter, and Hamilton writer Lin-Manuel Miranda, sat down to discuss how Hamilton is changing Broadway, and the upcoming cast album (which we perviously reported they will be working on)
“To be hip-hop is much more than just rapping in the production,” Questlove told Billboard. “It is more in the attitude. A couple of years ago, when the musical Fela! was first out, I was amazed that something that raw, that uncut, got past the guard and actually got made. And I thought, similar to Obama, ‘This is going to be a once-in-a-lifetime thing. And then along comes Hamilton. Like, dude, finally a reason to come to Broadway. First authentic hip-hop show.”
One of the most interesting things discussed in the interview was Miranda’s admission that there was a rap battle that was almost included in Hamilton that would’ve paid homage to rapper Tupac Shakur. “Yeah, that we cut, and it was sort of our homage to “Hail Mary.” There was a moment when there were two Quakers from, I think it was Pennsylvania, who tried to ban the importation of slaves and brought it to the house floor. And [James] Madison let them talk about it for two days and then set a gag rule — ‘We’re not talking about slavery until 1808’ — basically saying, like, ‘We don’t know how to solve it.’ They knew it was a problem. Even from the racist perspective, it was, ‘There’s going to be more of them than us!’ But no one knew what to do about it, and they all kicked it down the field.”
Source: Billboard
The hip hop musical debuted off-Broadway at The Public Theater in January and explores the life of Alexander Hamilton, one of this country’s founding fathers.
“From bastard orphan to Washington’s right hand man, rebel to war hero, loving husband caught in the country’s first sex scandal to Treasury head who made an untrusting world believe in the American economy, Hamilton is an exploration of a political mastermind. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Eliza Hamilton, and lifelong Hamilton friend and foe, Aaron Burr, all attend this revolutionary tale of America’s fiery past told through the sounds of the ever-changing nation we’ve become.”
Hamilton began previews on July 13 at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, and opening night is August 6.
