Barack Obama joined Lin-Manuel Miranda, the creator of hit musical Hamilton, to perform a freestyle rap on Monday (14Mar16).
Miranda and the cast of the Broadway joined the U.S. President at the White House for a special performance of songs from the musical, based on the life of U.S. founding-father Alexander Hamilton.
In the garden of the president’s residence the pair joined forces to perform a freestyle rap, with Obama flipping through cue cards featuring politically related words which the actor and writer incorporated into his lyrics.
The 50-year-old American leader told a drummer to “drop the beat” before running through the collection of cards and dancing along to his collaborator’s hip hop flow.
Wait for it… ⬇️ #Bam4Ham
Posted by The White House on Monday, March 14, 2016
Obama and wife Michelle, 52, are self-declared fans of the historical musical, which had its Broadway debut last year (15), and invited Washington D.C. high school pupils and aspiring performers to watch its stars in action.
It is not the only connection the musical has to Obama as Miranda debuted an early version of a song from the show at a White House poetry slam in 2009.
Introducing the special performance, the President said, “Hamilton has become a phenomenon, a smash hit, taken Broadway by storm, captivating the entire country, winning tons of awards, turned musical haters into die-hard fans.”
Miranda was inspired to create the musical after reading the life story of the early American political figure, who rose from relative poverty in the West Indies to become an influential advisor to the U.S.’s first President George Washington. He helped frame the U.S. Constitution and financial system, before being killed in 1804 in a duel with then U.S. Vice-President Aaron Burr.
It has since become a phenomenon, with tickets sold out for the foreseeable future and the cheapest resale seats costing $1,200 (£850).
