Lin-Manuel Miranda who is famously known for writing and acting in the Broadway musical In the Heights, which opened on Broadway at the Richard Rodgers Theatre in 2008, is an American actor, composer and lyricist.
The 35-year-old of Puerto Rican descent was born in New York City and attended Hunter College High School and Wesleyan University.
"Freestyle Love Supreme", is a hip-hop theatre troupe he organized. In 1996, he wrote, directed, and acted in an independent film called Clayton's Friends.
Miranda shares his top hip-hop tracks completely with Us Weekly. See his full playlist below to find out which rap songs get Us going.
* "Sober" is the first single by American recording artist Childish Gambino from his EP Kauai that won the mtvU Woodies Award for Best Video Woodie on March 2015.
* “Close Your Eyes (And Count To F--k)” is gripping and simple: a four-minute fistfight between a black man and a white police officer that ends in surprising\ fashion.
* "Story 2” from their exceptional, newish album CLPPNG. In the song MC Daveed Diggs tells a dark story about a criminal who tried to go straight, only to have his past and the “block full of charred skeletons” in his closet come back to haunt him.
* “Burn It Up!” is a new record from Janet Jackson and Missy Elliott. The record will be appearing on Janet‘s forthcoming comeback album, Unbreakable.
The “Work It” rapper sets things off with a verse to announce the power of her presence. “I’ma shut it down,” raps Missy before adding that Miss Jackson wears the crown. She also throws in a few silly, yet, calculated “meows” and a “boom boom pow.”
* "Welcome to New York” by Taylor Swift was released on October 20,2014 as the second promotional single from Swift's fifth studio album, 1989. It drew a mixed critical response as some found the lyrics clichéd and dull, while others called the song catchy and a "new kind of equality anthem". All sales proceeds from the single will be donated to the New York City Department of Education by the singer.
* "You Ain’t Gotta Lie (Momma Said)” by Kendrick Lamar, the song is based along the lines of “the loudest in the room, is the weakest in the room”. Those who tell don’t know and those who know don’t tell. It’s a powerful message of the purgatory that entertainers and rappers can enter if they are not stratospherically successful, but not anonymous enough to return to their hood without recieving attention from everyone they see.
* "Love and Love Alone” by Chita Rivera
is a musical with a book by Terrence McNally, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and music by John Kander. The musical adaptation of The Visit was originally developed as a vehicle for Angela Lansbury and was scheduled for a Broadway opening on March 15, 2001.
* “Blessings” by Big Sean featuring Drake and Kanye West:" Its original release only contained a feature from Drake, which is the version that appears on Dark Sky Paradise. The extended version that featured an additional verse from Kanye West was released on February 3, 2015 and it eventually serve as the single.