Saturday Night Live’s most recent host, Lin-Manuel Miranda, is the creator of the hit Broadway musical Hamilton: an American Musical. Hamilton tells the story of founding father Alexander Hamilton throughout his career by using a wide range of music genres, with rap being the most noticeable. The soundtrack to Hamilton is highly enjoyable and conveys the founding fathers in a different light. Instead of debating in old fashioned language, Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton debate issues facing the the newly formed U.S. in the form of rap battles. The creative soundtrack uses a mix of slang and the language of the revolution to convey many of the issues that the founders of the country faced.

Listening to Hamilton is an easy and entertaining way to learn about our country’s history, however there are some historical inaccuracies. Most of the issues that arise are due to compressing the time frame, but other facts were either forgotten by Miranda or purposely omitted. One of the historical inaccuracies Miranda purposefully changed was making Angelica Schuyler single at the time that she meet Alexander Hamilton. The altering of this information makes their connection easier to believe. These alterations are minor and the overall history of the musical is still correct.

Anyone who enjoys Broadway musicals or history would like Hamilton. Some excellent songs to listen to would be “Alexander Hamilton,” “Guns and Ships,” and “Non-stop.” Other works by Miranda include his first Broadway musical In the Heights, music in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and music in the upcoming Walt Disney film Moana.