Everyone from Busta Rhymes to Michelle Obama to your kid brother can’t get enough of the hit musical "Hamilton" Though it may be difficult to recall a time when Lin-Manuel Miranda’s retelling of the life of America’s first Treasury Secretary wasn’t a media sensation, in 2015 this hip-hop musical seemed like a concept that would never last past a limited run at an off-Broadway theater. But just like the story of a poor, Caribbean orphan’s unexpected rise to fame in the American Revolution, "Hamilton" found success through taking risks and subverting expectations. Instead of relying on celebrity leads and standard show tunes to draw crowds, the show cast entirely unknown minority actors and its score explored new sounds by combining influences from R&B, Broadway and hardcore rap.
But as "Hamilton's: popularity grew so did its ticket prices, charging theatregoers close to $800 for a single seat. Strangely, the show's outrageous Broadway rates and months-long waiting lists have now spawned into their own cultural in-joke. Fans playfully contemplate selling an organ or two to attend a matinee while sites like MTV.com publish articles with cheeky titles like “23 Celebs Who’ve Seen Hamilton (And You Aren’t One Of Them).” Miranda himself even joked in an SNL appearance last October that not even he could get his hands on a ticket. It seems that what was once the story of an underdog’s fight for recognition has suddenly transformed into another status symbol, only available to the likes of Madonna or Vice President Mike Pence
"The Hamilton Mixtape," a "Now That's What I Call Music!" style, collaboration album of covers and demos, follows this trend of commercialization, with an A-Lister lineup that further underscores the disconnect that’s arisen between the "Hamilton" hype machine and the core message of Hamilton itself: that you don’t need to start with wealth and prestige to be a part of something important.
The slickly overproduced and over-rehearsed quality of the vocals lacks the raw emotion of the Broadway cast, and the final product comes off feeling like a gimmicky attempt for celebrities to add their names to something with the coveted "Hamilton" brand.
Unlike the music from the original show, which surprised listeners with its unexpected mixture of contemporary and historical genres, the "Mixtape" does little to reinterpret material we’ve already heard. Usher’s version of “Wait for It” is technically fine, but sounds so similar to the original that it begs the question why fans wouldn’t just stick with the cast album instead.
Despite the extensive 22-song track list, there are only a few artists who manage to lend their own creative spin to the soundtrack. Ben Folds and Regina Spektor’s bouncy keyboard duet of “Dear Theodosia” gives the straightforward love song a whimsical indie appeal. And Sia’s electronic remix of “Satisfied,” delivers some badly needed energy by making the song as dance-worthy as any of the girl-power anthems currently dominating pop radio.
Still, the majority of the numbers strip the songs of all context and tone, sounding like something you’d have playing as soft background noise at a dinner party, easily ignorable and unobtrusive.
Kelly Clarkson takes "It's Quiet Uptown", the song dealing with the tragic death of Hamilton’s son, and belts it at full volume, turning what was a haunting expression of grief into another generic American Idol-ized inspirational ballad. Jimmy Fallon introduces his rendition of “You’ll Be Back” with an awkward monologue about being "classically trained by Ed Classically" which falls flatter than his exaggeratedly wheezy notes.
The only truly exciting moments on the album are those that dare to do more than just re-hash successful Broadway history by applying show’s themes to the present-day. In addition to its covers, the Mixtape features three new demos that mix-and-match lyrics from the production in order to cleverly craft new narratives addressing modern political turmoil.
By far, the most notable of these added tracks is “Immigrants (We Get The Job Done)", a collaboration between rappers K’Naan, Riz MC, and Snow Tha Product. Riz MC’s seamless, punchy verse transitions into Spanish not only highlight’s America’s multi-lingual climate but also invokes Miranda’s own roots and his first Broadway show “In the Heights” which told the story of a Latino community in NYC and was praised for the way its score incorporated traditional Dominican beats.
“Immigrants” pulls the listener out of the 18th century and confronts them with our nation’s ongoing dangerously xenophobic atmosphere. It opens with the harsh truth that “in a country founded by immigrants, “immigrant” has somehow become a bad word” and includes references to current international affairs in Pakistan and to the White Houses’ mistreatment of Mexican-Americans. The mission of this new content, to promote culture awareness and diversity, not only parallels Hamilton’s struggles with his heritage in the show, but also reflects Manuel-Miranda’s own ongoing activism efforts.
In a recent television appearance, the composer debuted an original song pleading with American audiences to assist with Puerto Rico’s desperate debt crisis. Rather than rest on his own celebrity, Miranda has always said that he wants to use "Hamilton's" success as a way to provide a voice for the millions of people out there who are still fighting against injustice and standing up to influential adversaries. And it’s for these reasons why the Hamilton Mixtape ultimately feels like a disappointing betrayal of the show’s values.
"Hamilton" portrays the American Revolution as an inspirational story where a rag-tag group of volunteers wins freedom against all odds by defeating the prominent and powerful British Army. However, K’Naan’s verse on “Immigrants” about working three jobs and living with five roommates in a studio apartment loses impact when you realize that the people he’s singing about, the people whose stories the show prides itself on representing, would never even get close to experiencing it on stage. And yet Fallon (and his King George persona) would have no issue scoring a balcony seat.
While there’s certainly no harm in allowing stars to attend "Hamilton" and sing their favorite songs from the show, an issue arises when a show that prides itself on risk-taking and inclusivity puts out a product that mainly just re-packages all its old material with more VIP names.
One of the key refrains throughout the show is Hamilton’s insistence that “there’s so much left he hasn’t done,” as he repeatedly reassures audiences, “Just you wait.” With Miranda’s Twitter announcement last month that another compilation is already in the works and expected to be released by the end of 2017, let’s hope that the second "Mixtape" installment stays true to this promise and gives us something we haven’t heard: something worth waiting for.
