(applause)
Lin-Manuel Miranda:
I'm thrilled the White House
called me tonight because I'm
actually working
on a hip-hop album.
It's a concept album about the
life of someone I think embodies
hip-hop Treasury Secretary,
Alexander Hamilton.
(laughter)
You laugh, but it's true!
He was born a penniless orphan
in St. Croix of illegitimate
birth, became George
Washington's right-hand man,
became Treasury Secretary, caught beef with every other
founding father.
And all in the strength
of his writing,
I think he embodies the world's
ability to make a difference.
So I'm going to be doing the
first song from that tonight.
I'm accompanied by Tony and
Grammy music director Alex Lacamoire.
(applause)
Anything you need to know --
I'll be playing Vice President Aaron Burr.
And snap along if you like.
♪♪(piano playing)♪♪
How does a bastard orphan son of
a whore and a Scotsman dropped
in the middle of a forgotten
spot in the Caribbean,
my providence impoverished
in squalor grow up to be a
hero and a scholar?
The ten dollar founding father
without a father got a lot
farther by working a lot
harder by being a lot smarter
by being a self-starter
By 14, they had placed him in
charge of a trade and charter
And everyday, while slaves
were being slaughtered or
carted away across the waves
our Hamilton kept his guard up
Inside, he was longing for
something to be a part of
The brother was ready to
beg, steal, borrow, or barter
Then a hurricane came
and devastation reigned
And our man saw his future
drip, dripping down the drain
Put a pencil to his temple,
connected it to his brain
And he wrote his first
refrain, a testament to his pain
When the word got around, they
said, this kid is insane, man,
took up a collection just to
send him to the mainland
Get your education
Don't forget from
whence you came
And the world is
going to know your name
What's your name, man?
Alexander Hamilton
(laughter)
His name is Alexander Hamilton
And there's a million
things he hasn't done
But just you wait, just you wait
When he was ten,
his father split
Full of it. Debt ridden.
Two years later see Alex
and his mother bedridden
Half dead sitting in their
own sick the scent thick
And Alex got better but
his mother went quick
Moved in with a cousin the
cousin committed suicide
Left him with nothing
but ruined pride
Something new inside
a voice saying, Alex,
you got to fend for yourself
He started retreating
and reading every treat
that's on the shelf
There would have been nothing
left to do for someone lest
astute
He would have been dead and
destitute without a cent of restitution
Starting working, clerking
for his late mother's landlord
Trading sugarcane and rum and
all the things he can't afford
Skinned for every book
he can get his hands on
Planning for the future, see him now as he stands on the bow of a
ship headed for a new land
In New York you
can be a new man
The ship is in the harbor
now see if you can spot him
Another immigrant coming
up from the bottom
His enemies destroyed his
rep, America, forgot him
And me I'm the damn
fool that shot him
Alexander Hamilton
(laughter)
We were waiting in
the weeds for you
You could never back down you
always had to speak your mind
But Alexander Hamilton we could
never take your deeds from you
In our cowardice and our shame,
we will try to destroy your name
The world will never
be the same Alexander!
Yeah, I'm the damn
genius that shot him
(applause)
Thank you.
(applause)
