Obama hosts freestyle rap at the White House

  • 16/03/2016
Lin-Manuel Miranda and Barack Obama
Lin-Manuel Miranda and Barack Obama

Barack Obama joined Lin-Manuel Miranda, the creator of hit musical Hamilton, to perform a freestyle rap yesterday.

Miranda and the cast of the Broadway musical joined the US President at the White House for a special performance of songs from the musical, based on the life of US founding-father Alexander Hamilton.

In the garden of the president's residence the pair joined forces to perform a freestyle rap, with Mr Obama flipping through cue cards featuring politically related words which the actor and writer incorporated into his lyrics.

The 54-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.

Mr Obama and wife Michelle, 52, are self-declared fans of the historical musical, which had its Broadway debut last year, and invited Washington DC high school pupils and aspiring performers to watch its stars in action.

It is not the only connection the musical has to Mr 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 US's first President George Washington. He helped frame the US Constitution and financial system, before being killed in 1804 in a duel with then US Vice-President Aaron Burr.

It has since become a phenomenon, with tickets sold out for the foreseeable future and the cheapest resale seats costing US$1,200 (NZ$1820).

WENN.com