“Hamilton” has taken Broadway and the world by storm, gathering famous fans like President Barack Obama. The show swept the Tony Award’s, taking home 11 awards including the award for Best Musical. In October, PBS released a documentary, “Hamilton’s America,” that provided a behind the scenes look at the creation of the musical and featured footage from the performances. Due to the major influence that hip-hop and rap have on the musical, the natural next step in the show’s success is the creation of a mix tape.
The idea of the “Hamilton Mixtape,” was first announced on Lin-Manuel Miranda’s personal Twitter in October of 2015. Miranda, the creator of the musical grew up in New York and is a lifelong hip-hop and rap fan. The next June, Miranda announced that the mixtape is expected to be released at the end of 2016.
Throughout the creation of the mixtape, Miranda added to the excitement of the fans by posting photos of himself with the artists that he was working with to create the mixtape.
At the beginning of this November, Miranda announced the December 2nd release date and the final track list of the album. The songs featured on the album are covers of songs from the “Hamilton” soundtrack, or inspired by the songs in the musical.
Here is the full tracklist of the album, featuring the names of the people that Miranda collaborated with to create the mixtape.
"The Hamilton Mixtape" Tracklist
1. No John Trumbull (Intro) – The Roots
2. My Shot (feat. Busta Rhymes, Joell Ortiz & Nate Ruess) [Rise Up Remix] – The Roots
3. Wrote My Way Out – Nas, Dave East, Lin-Manuel Miranda & Aloe Blacc
4. Wait For It – Usher
5. An Open Letter (feat. Shockwave) [Interlude] – Watsky
6. Satisfied (feat. Miguel & Queen Latifah) – Sia
7. Dear Theodosia (feat. Ben Folds) – Regina Spektor
8. Valley Forge (Demo) – Lin-Manuel Miranda
9. It’s Quiet Uptown – Kelly Clarkson
10. That Would Be Enough – Alicia Keys
11. Immigrants (We Get The Job Done) – K’naan, Snow Tha Product, Riz MC, Residente
12. You’ll Be Back – Jimmy Fallon & The Roots
13. Helpless (feat. Ja Rule) – Ashanti
14. Take A Break (Interlude) – !llmind
15. Say Yes To This – Jill Scott
16. Congratulations – Dessa
17. Burn – Andra Day
18. Stay Alive (Interlude) – J.PERIOD & Stro Elliot
19. Slavery Battle (Demo) – Lin-Manuel Miranda
20. Washingtons By Your Side – Wiz Khalifa
21. History Has Its Eyes On You – John Legend
22. Who Tells Your Story (feat. Common & Ingrid Michaelson) – The Roots
23. Dear Theodosia (Reprise) – Chance The Rapper & Francis and The Lights
For this mixtape, Miranda was able to bring together chart-topping pop stars like Kelly Clarkson and Sia and rap legends like Busta Rhymes to create an album that intertwines the popular music today with the revolutionary war themes of the musical.
With the creation of “Hamilton,” Lin-Manuel Miranda has continued to diversify the music that is featured in musical theater and has also been able to introduce different genres to the fans of both hip-hop and musicals. This mixture of genres has helped to create a more lively and multigenerational fan base for the musical.
The new locations of the musical, including the current performances in Chicago and the upcoming national tour stops in San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Atlanta, Boston, Denver, Des Moines, Houston, Las Vegas, Charlotte, Denver, Salt Lake City, Portland, Seattle, St. Louis, Tempe and the West End production in London, the more audiences will be able to experience the music of “Hamilton” live.
The album is currently available to pre-order and will definitely be a must buy this upcoming holiday season for fans of the musical and fans of the artists featured on the mixtape.
