By Grace Griggs

One of my favorite of the Ham4Ham videos we discussed is “The Hamilton Children” where the cast of Fun Home were brought in to play Hamilton’s kids who weren’t featured in the show.

The main purpose of this Ham4Ham is probably just to be cute, but it also affects the tone of the show in an interesting way. Essentially, it is a continuation of Phillip Hamilton’s rap to include his seven siblings, only one of which was even mentioned in the show itself. Hamilton ends with Eliza working to tell Hamilton’s story and memorialize his contributions to the US government. Ultimately, Hamilton’s legacy is his work, just like he wanted it to be. Eliza’s belief that their family would be legacy enough (emphasized in “First Burn” from the Hamilton Mixtape) is never validated because the only one of their children we see dies young. This song changes that, though. Not only did Hamilton have many children, but each of them went on to do interesting, important things. From defending Aaron Burr’s second wife in their divorce to being Secretary of State, the Hamilton children were no slouches. Knowing this, it would be easy to argue that Eliza was right to say Hamilton’s legacy could be his family rather than just his work. Based only on the story of the show, it would be hard to say Hamilton’s legacy was anything other than his work. I think adding this song to the show itself would completely change the tone of the ending.

The mediums of the two pieces are essentially the same, with the main difference being production value, with the Ham4Ham show being live with no music and only one microphone. My main takeaway from this exercise is how the selective inclusion or exclusion of even somewhat unrelated historical details can significantly change the story being told and its tone. For my adaptation, I have to pull from some historical events that the show only briefly brushes over. This means I have freedom to choose what I include and what I leave out. It is important that I carefully consider the overall tone and purpose of my adaptation when I am choosing what to include in it.

By: Rahmel Bailey

The song “Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story” is the final song in the musical performance of Hamilton and acts as a grand finale to the play. It speaks about the legacy of Hamilton after his death and question who will keep it. In the mixtape a remix of the song was created called “Who Tells Your Story”, which has some similarities but a lot of changes from the original.

In the original song the entire cast is included and many of the founding fathers give their remarks of Hamilton which reflect how many tried to downplay Hamilton’s contributions to the founding of the country. It is clear that many didn’t want to give him any recognition, but only gave him some credit because his impact was undeniable. Jefferson is heard saying “I’ll give him this: his financial system is a work of genius”,  and Madison says “He took our country from bankruptcy to prosperity, I hate to admit it,”. The founding fathers only gave him credit for his undisputable contributions. In the rap song it differs because it follows Common and Black Thought talking about the legacy that they have set for themselves. Furthermore, in the main hook the singer asks “Who holds on to our lives”. The perspective of the remix is of Common and Black Thought talking about the legacy they will have, and the main singer asks the listener to think of their legacy. However, the original song talks of Hamilton’s legacy and how Eliza helped it.

In the original piece there is a large emphasis on time, almost as though the reason Eliza had to save Hamilton’s legacy was because he died early and wasn’t able to solidify his impact like the other founding fathers. However, the rappers Common and Black Thought contribute legacy to the contributions made while alive. Common asks if he will be remembered for his early album “Water For Chocolate” or “Resurrection”, and Black Thought mentions that his writing and raps will be most remembered about him.

The new form changes the viewers experience with the text because in the original we see that the legacy of Hamilton was up to everyone else after he died and is more of a historical song of how the story of Hamilton survived overtime. However, the remix makes the reader think of the legacy they will leave after they die. This is essential because it speaks directly to black and brown audiences and challenges them to chase success in their lives.

Because I am using the remix from the mixtape this analysis will help me create a video that fits with the overall meaning I found from the lyrics of the song. It taught me more about how a legacy can be affected after death.

by Noah Hammond

The song on the Hamilton Mixtape “Dear Theodosia” really stood out to me, since I’m a fan of Chance the Rapper. He is very versatile in his music talents, since he can rap as well as sing. In “Dear Theodosia,” Chance is singing a mellow song about a girl he loves and how committed he’s willing to be. Compared to the original song in the soundtrack, there is much more harmonization, since technology in the recording studio allows him to record and go back to layer his voice on top of itself, while in the musical they have to sing everything live.

You can feel the emotion of the song clearly when it is sung by Chance, since he is a professional and does this for a living. Not that the actors in the Hamilton musical are not good singers, it’s just that they have to be able to act, sing and dance for an audience so they don’t need to convey all the meaning of the song in the music. Chance’s style showed through in this song as well. You get the feeling that he has gone through something similar to the character in the musical, so he can really relate and put himself into the song. That makes for even better quality music.

Aaron Burr wants to dedicate himself to Theodosia, but he ends up being taken over by his political career and even goes so far as to kill one of his rivals; Hamilton. In the song, you can tell that he really cares for her and he wishes he could be there for her, but the events in the musical prevent him from doing that. The song takes place before Hamilton’s death, so the audience may know that Burr’s words end up being hollow, making it even sadder.

By: Kristen English

For my last blog entry, I have decided to compare the remix of My Shot from The Hamilton Mixtape to the original as a way to broaden my prospective for the final remix and adaptation project. The lyrics in the remixed adaptation of the song are from a modern viewpoint as they reference scenarios such as a “young tot applyin’ a sticker to his Spiderman lunchbox”, which obviously did not exist in Hamilton’s time era. The song is from the viewpoint of an oppressed modern day citizen who has to work hard to achieve his goals. The remixed version, much like the original, tells the story of a man who wants more out of his life and is not going to miss his chance to achieve his dreams and goals.

While both the original and the remixed piece have the same underlying argument of one fulfilling their dreams, the differing lyrics and delivery of each song give a different feel to each piece and evoke different emotions. Busta Rhymes’ remixed version is a classic hip-hop anthem telling the story of a young troubled man’s rise to fame through dedicated hard-work while out-lining the struggles he faces along the way. This theme is very common among hip-hop music and while the remixed song itself is very motivating in lyrics, the delivery of the song is smoother and more laid back than the original. Also, in comparison to the original version, which has a very upbeat and strong delivery, the remixed version tells the same story with the classic old-school hip-hop feel. The remixed version gives a different perspective on a classic piece with a classic storyline through the use of different lyrics and differing delivery. This is important because it shows viewers that no matter what era, people still face the same issues regarding oppression and the drive to succeed despite all odds. This story needs to be told because it sheds light on the topic of success through oppression, which can often be overlooked this day in age.

I believe reviewing the remixed version of this song has given me the different perspective that was needed for my project. As my project is telling the modern story of the song My Shot, this remixed version was perfect to analyze. The lyrics gave me insight into modern struggles that people from differing backgrounds can face and inspired my own ideas into how I am going to tell the story through my blog. While many argue that the original piece cannot be beat, I say that both are great for different purposes and I am glad to have taken the time to analyze both and broaden my knowledge and outlook on the topic.

 

Pictured Busta Rhymes with Lin-Manuel Miranda 

By: Zac Frederick

When I listened to “Wait for It” from the Hamilton Mixtape, a remix by famous music artist Usher of the original “Wait For It” from the Hamilton Soundtrack, I was at first struck by how similar the two songs appear to be. To me, they both seemed to have similar sounding styles, and both are sung with the same rhythms and notes. Even the words are almost identical at nearly every part of the song, save a verse or two. However, another listen helped to point out some of the key differences of the original and the remix.

First and most notably, it is Usher who sings the song, and not Aaron Burr, the character who recites the song in the play. Usher has a different style for the song, a more pop-sounding style, which is also reflected in the music number as well. Usher gives the song a remix that listeners would be more familiar with having no context of the surrounding play of Hamilton. This difference is similar in this sense with one that is found later in the song. While the play version takes the third verse to direct the song at Hamilton’s personality and character saying that he “doesn’t hesitate [and] exhibits no restraint,” Usher’s remix leaves this bit out, opting to simply repeat the previous chorus. While this is a smaller detail in reality, it does point to the notion that Usher is generalizing the song to a broader audience. He doesn’t want to limit the song specifically to those who are familiar with Hamilton, and by leaving this out Usher allows the song to become more relatable to the general listener. The song distances itself from the plot of the show, and becomes more of a general lesson as a whole. In this sense, the song looses a significant asset when evaluating its importance.

Blog entry 5
By Ye Jun Kim

When a show or anything that can be spread through media becomes popular, remixes and adaptations of the original piece emerge on the web. Similarly, the musical Hamilton has received multiple forms of remxes and adaptations.
One I thought was very interesting and unique was mixing the musical and another popular film to create a new work. More specifically, The mix between the Disney movie Mulan and Hamilton was very interesting. The author of this remix took the ever-so-confident characteristics that both exist in Lafeyette and Yao, and inserted the Hamilton characters in the Mulan settings.
The mix between the two pieces does not really help with making the story easier to understand, but I think that this allowes us to approach the characters in a more comfortable way. Since, for a lot of us, Mulan is a childhood movie, it is easier for us the connect with the characters in Mulan. However, Hamilton is about history after all, so it would seem harder to connect to and feel attached to the characters. By mixing the two allows us to look at the characters in Hamilton a different way, perhaps in a more casual way, thinking of them less as historical figures and more as people just like us.
I’ve mentioned this artwork in my Adaptation and Remix proposal as well, but I plan on using this as reference to create my rendition of Hamilton. Through looking at this piece, I was able to determine how I can go about working on mine and that I need to focus more on the characters itself than the event, since a lot of the times, the events are not as significant as the characters characteristics, especially if they are not the main characters.

By: Ian Byers

For this last blog entry, I’ve chosen to talk a bit about Ham4Pamphlet, as the whole project is very interesting to me. It is a visual interpretation of Hamilton, but one that is quite varied, as it was made by numerous different artists. However, Hamilton, being a Broadway show, already has a very prominent  visual aspect, with its casting and choreography being some of its most praised features. Despite this, fan art of Hamilton is extremely popular. I took some time to think about why this was, and one of the ideas I came up with was that not everyone was able to see a full performance of the show, especially soon after it had premiered. So, it makes sense that many fans who had only heard the songs of the show and seen some clips of the live performance were inspired to make their own visual interpretations of the characters. I don’t know if this is necessarily why fan art of this show flourished, but it’s just an idea I had.

Although I don’t think that the Ham4Pamphlet project as a whole makes an argument about the show, individual pieces of art featured in it do. The entire project, though, shows that people who have different interpretations of the show and its meaning can still work together and collaborate to produce a very high quality fan work. This allows for all fans of the show to get a broad overview of some common opinions on parts of the show, and relate to how these affected other fans.

 

The illustration for “Your Obedient Servant” was my personal favorite out of all 46. In regards to my own adaptation, this gives me a good idea of some popular ways in which fans of the show like to express their appreciation of it. Hopefully, this will allow me to create something that more people will also be able to relate to and understand, while also adding my own personal touch.

By: Max Jarck

I am most familiar with the adaptation of ‘Helpless’ found on The Hamilton Mixtape. I was introduced to this song several months before this class when it was added to a collaborative Spotify playlist I follow. At this point I had no idea what Hamilton even was. I decided to take a closer look at this adaption.

Ashanti and Ja Rule’s version of ‘Helpless’ is a pretty faithful cover of the original. There is little variation to the lyrics and overall sound of the song. Ashanti is a Grammy award-winning artist who topped the charts in the early 2000s. She was featured on Ja Rules’s ‘Always on Time’ which was one of the biggest hits of 2002. The two released several songs together during this time. This remix of ‘Helpless’ is a reunion for the two artists.

Ashanti assumes the role Eliza and rarely alters the lyrics. In the first verse of the line “Everybody’s dancin’ and the bands top volume” from the original cast recording is changed to “everybody’s dancin’ and the bass top volume.” This is just a small change that I caught and I think it may signify how important bass has become in today’s music. For many, the bass line can make or break a song.

The most significant difference is the elimination of Angelica. In the original Angelica introduces Hamilton to Eliza. These spoken scenes are cut from the adaptation. These cut scenes add to the play because they give important backstory but are unnecessary in the adaptation which is meant to be a standalone piece. In addition, this makes the adaptation more radio friendly.

Ja rule has a very unique baritone voice which is a stark contrast to Lin Manuel Miranda’s. This gives Alexander Hamilton’s verses a slightly different feel and instead of moving to Harlem with Eliza Ja Rule decided to let them move to his native Queens.

This adaption of Hamilton doesn’t change medium or reinvent anything. It is a well done cover of a beautiful song that leads to a more R&B and radio friendly feel.

By: Clarisa Colton

I’ve decided for this final blog post I am going to discuss the remix of “My Shot” from the Hamilton Mixtape. What really struck me about this remix was that how even though most of the lyrics were changed, the message was still the same. The message was still the same because the message still applies today. The first thing I would like to point out is that the lyrics that aren’t changed – “I said I’m not throwin’ away my shot / Yo I’m just like my country / I’m young, scrappy, and hungry / And I’m not throwin’ away my shot”. It’s not true anymore that our country is literally young, but I feel that it is a true statement that the people today that are trying to make a change in the America we currently live in are mostly the young people of America. In both versions of the song, it delivers a message telling us that we can “rise up” and become anything we work for. I feel the context of the song mainly directs it to those who aren’t generally as able to become who they dream of being or at least feel they aren’t able – minorities.

 

 

Which is kind of what the entirety of Hamilton is directed towards. Those who feel small, or left behind – it’s a message to those people that they are just as capable as anyone else, despite the circumstances. The way this differs from the original is that it puts the idea of the song into a more modern/current light. I feel that this makes the message more accessible to those who might need it today. This helps me to understand what my adaptation needs to accomplish – to reach a different audience that may need the message of the song just as much.

by: Emily Moseley

My favorite of the Ham4Ham pieces was when Miranda pulled out their production stage manager Jason Bassett to call all the cues while Miranda and the company performed “Ten Duel Commandments.” This got me excited because when I was my school’s theater company stage manager for my last two years of high school so it gave me something I could personally relate to with Hamilton.

Even though I didn’t have the same cue calls for the intricate lighting and turntables that Bassett did, I knew exactly what he was rambling on about while the actors were singing and running around (since there were no real turntables on the streets of New York City). This Ham4Ham performance was not necessarily making any changes to the musical, just bringing certain aspects of it forward for the audience to notice. You can still hear the actors singing the “Ten Duel Commandments” but more prominent you hear Bassett’s voice on the microphone calling for light cues, when to and which direction to start the turntables, and who to spotlight.

The argument of the original piece is quite clear: Miranda wants to tell the story of our Founding Fathers, especially Alexander Hamilton, in a different, color-blind, light and with a different tone. But this adaptation of part of the show has nothing to do with the original message, it merely wants to show the crowd the hard work and mechanics that go into producing a musical like this every night on Broadway. He wants to give credit to the techies that rarely see the spotlight or get credit from the audience for the work they put in at the same time that the actors are putting on the show. By getting Bassett on the mic, and still keeping the actors in front, Miranda was able to show the audience outside the theater how important the roles of stage manager and crew are into running a high production musical like this. Without them, the actors probably would not be fully dressed (I’ve hastily dressed many actors before), they definitely won’t be in the spotlight, and all props would be lost…forever. Actors have a knack for losing props that I just won’t ever understand. When I used to be stage manager, the tables back stage would look like crime scenes because I would tape out sections for every prop on their respective stage right a left and if something wasn’t in its place we knew right away.

I don’t know if I’ll use the theme of this Ham4Ham in my own adaptation or remix but I did enjoy watching and analyzing it. This “Love for the Techies Day” video let me look back at my own time as stage manager and see it applied on a much higher level in Hamilton the Musical.