Claire DuMont
Online Sports Editor
“The Hamilton Mixtape” is essential for old fans of the musical and will surely entice new listeners.
“The Hamilton Mixtape,” released on December 2, adapted from the famed musical, takes the already popular music and adds a new, creative spin on both the concept and songs.
Following the immense success of the musical “Hamilton,” written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, “The Hamilton Mixtape” was created based on the idea for a concept album for the musical. Never before released music is combined with covers of the main songs by current, popular artists that bring their own style into the beloved songs.
The album is composed of 23 songs, made up of a combination of newly written music, music not featured in the original musical, and renditions of original songs by popular artists. Though this combination may be seen as risky, however, it allows for the album to appeal to both old and new fans of the musical.
Photos: Promotion for the Hamilton Mixtape released on December 2.
From the start to the finish of the album, the songs flow together in a cohesive way, similar to how they are presented in the actual musical. This gives the album the feel of a new, completely different take on “Hamilton,” while still keeping the values and subject matter of the original story perfectly incorporated.
The album begins with a cover of the famed song “My Shot” from the original musical, covered and interpreted by The Roots. The Roots positively influenced the album with their jazz rap style. While the song is changed in a lyrical perspective, the message and subject are still seamlessly made clear, as they are in the original musical.
Courtesy of Hamilton: An American Musical
Throughout the album, songs such as “It’s Quiet Uptown,” and “You’ll Be Back,” are covered by current artists. Each one of these artists, including Jimmy Fallon, Sia, and Kelly Clarkson, bring a new style of music to the songs, from their personal genre in a way that puts the musical in a new perspective for listeners.
Buy the Hamilton Mixtape on iTunes
Songs throughout the musical, such as “Say Yes To This” offer a viewpoint that was not originally added into the musical. This gives listeners a new perspective adding depth to the story that was not already incorporated.
Because of the already lengthy “Hamilton” soundtrack which includes 46 songs, there were many songs that did not make it into the original release. However, songs such as “Congratulations” and “Cabinet Battle #3,” were released in the mixtape. This satisfies fans of the musical eager to hear new music and provides insight into the vision of Lin-Manuel Miranda.
The combination of between artists that covered and interpreted music for the mixtape brings together many distinct styles of music. Styles range from rap and hip-hop (“My Shot”) and soft ballads (“Dear Theodosia,”) mirroring the range of styles in the original musical. This provides fluidity from the mixtape to the musical, and gives the listeners a sense of familiarity with the new music.
Read Lin-Manuel Miranda and Questlove’s interview about the Hamilton Mixtape
The only drawback to the mixtape lies in some of the covers of the original songs. Devoted fans of the musical might be not as used to hearing the songs performed and interpreted by other artists, however, this is easily looked past and does not detract from the album’s value as a whole.
The songs in the album are ordered differently than the original musical, and do not entirely tell the story in the original chronology as the musical. This adds to the “mixtape” feel of the album, as everything is changed and redone, while also retaining the what makes the musical famous.
“The Hamilton Mixtape” incorporates both old and new concepts and styles to weave together an almost perfect album that will excite old fans and entice new listeners.
“The Hamilton Mixtape” is available to stream on Apple Music and Spotify, and is available to purchase from iTunes for $14.99.
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