Somebody accidentally gave me another excuse to talk your collective ears off about Hamilton, and you better believe that I'm gonna make the most of it. In the immortal words of Lin-Manuel Miranda, I am not throwing away my shot. And speaking of that, the "My Shot" cover from The Hamilton Mixtap e is out, and, wow, you guys, it does not disappoint. It's harder and has darker themes than the original, but with that same vein of heart and earnestness running through it. More importantly, it will give me fuel to annoy you about this brilliant show for at least another couple of months. And you're gonna like it.
If the first "My Shot" is rated PG-13 — there are some swear words, after all — then the mixtape track is certainly an R, but it sacrifices none of the wittiness of the original. Right off the bat, Black Thought comes in with the genius line, "Ayo mugshots, gun shots, dope shots, jump shot / Take your pick, but you only get one shot," underlining the fact that there are very few ways to survive in these modern day troubled neighborhoods. It can be a life of crime, represented by mugshots, a life in gangs, gunshots, a life of drugs, dope shots, or a one-in-million chance that you'll be good enough at basketball to make it big time. Youth today have to be almost more enterprising than Hamilton himself to rise above their situations, and "My Shot" brings that home brilliantly.
And those are only the first two lines. Cripes. The rest of the song is just as well crafted, with that old familiar Lin-Manuel Miranda hook lacing throughout, and it has me so excited for the full mixtape that I don't even know what to do with myself.
The mixtape will include reimagined, reworked versions of all the original songs from Miranda's smash-hit Broadway show, by some super big names from Kelly Clarkson to Ben Folds to Wiz Khalifa; it really covers a lot of ground. "My Shot" is a number about taking advantage of that special opportunity when it comes along, and is originally sung by Alexander Hamilton (Miranda), featuring the Marquis de Lafayette (Daveed Diggs), John Laurens (Anthony Ramos), Hercules Mulligan (Okieriete Onaodowan), and Aaron Burr (Leslie Odom, Jr.). For the mixtape, the song is retooled by Busta Rhymes, Fun . 's Nate Ruess, Slaughterhouse's Joell Ortiz, and The Roots' Black Thought. No big deal, just some industry luminaries.
The mixtape itself won't be out until Dec. 2, although you can start preordering as of Friday. But, because we've all been good little boys and girls, "My Shot" is available to listen to now when you pre-order the album, and should be on Spotify... eventually. Cancel all my meetings on Dec. 2, because I know what I'll be doing.
Images: Giphy
