One night as I was doing my nightly ritual of procrastinating homework by scrolling through Buzzfeed, I came across an article called “21 Steps To Becoming Obsessed With Hamilton.” After reading the article praising the rap-battle-filled, new broadway musical based on the life of Alexander Hamilton, I decided that I needed to listen to the soundtrack. Afterall, if it had Buzzfeed’s stamp of approval, it had to be good.
So as I pulled out my math homework, I also pulled out my earbuds and listened to the beginning notes of the opening number while I solved my trig problems. I couldn’t stay focused on my homework for very long though, as I soon became engrossed in the story of “America’s ten-dollar, founding father.”
While a musical about the life of Alexander Hamilton sounds like something only your AHAP teacher would get excited about, there is very little that isn’t exciting about the musical. The show follows the life of Hamilton – an orphaned immigrant who climbed the American political ladder to become a signer of the Constitution and the first Secretary of the Treasury, as well as being involved in America’s first political sex scandal and dying in a duel at the hands of his political rival, Aaron Burr. And the best part is that since the show is performed almost entirely through song, you can avoid the $900 stubhub ticket price to see the show on Broadway, and get the full auditory experience via Spotify from the comfort of your home.
While the musical is a story of America’s infancy, it sounds like the America of today. One song, “The Ten Duel Commandments,” is based off of The Notorious BIG’s “Ten Crack Commandments.” Hamilton’s wife and her sisters are reminiscent of Destiny’s Child, while King George III sings breakup songs about America in the style of British pop – and these songs are just the tip of the iceberg of brilliance that is “Hamilton.” Every single song on the soundtrack is rich and beautiful and unique and absolutely perfect. I go back-n-forth all the time trying to decide which song is my favorite. Somedays it’s Burr’s passionate “The Room Where it Happened,” and other days it’s Hamilton’s sister-in-law, Angelica’s, heartbreaking “Satisfied.” Actually, scratch that. I can’t choose my favorite. I love them all.