Leslie Odom, Jr. (L), Lin-Manuel Miranda (R) and cast of 'Hamilton' perform on stage during 'Hamilton' Grammy performance for The 58th Grammy Awards at Richard Rodgers Theater on Feb. 15, 2016 in New York City.
Theo Wargo/WireImage
2015’s best rap album isn’t by Drake or Kendrick Lamar — it’s the cast recording of Hamilton, a vital companion to the most talked-about musical in this millennium.
True, an audio recording (executive-produced by The Roots’ Questlove and Black Thought) can’t reproduce the subversive visual impact of watching star/creator Lin-Manuel Miranda (recently awarded a MacArthur Foundation “genius grant”) and the mostly black and brown cast take on America’s Founding Fathers on Broadway. But digesting every nuance in these mostly rapped renditions of the verbose title character’s oratorical jousts is almost impossible without a rewind button; each listen finds a new sanguine historical detail, winking nod to a hip-hop classic or rhyme pattern delivered with Eminem-level intricacy, particularly on the epic “Cabinet Battles” between the lead and Thomas Jefferson.
Hamilton‘s stage production should be required viewing for every U.S. citizen, but this exhilarating listen is a much more practical, and every bit as enjoyable, stand-in.