Hamilton creator and star Lin-Manuel Miranda released a politically-charged video this week for the song “Immigrants” from The Hamilton Mixtape, which is based on music from the popular Broadway show.
The 6-minute dramatic visual opens with a group of immigrants listening to a radio report about the U.S. Congress’s legislative debate over border security and immigration reform. “It’s really astonishing that in a country founded by immigrants, ‘immigrant’ has somehow become a bad word,'” the reporter says.
As each rapper recites their lyrics, scenes of refugees and immigrants doing various jobs are intermingled throughout.
The video features contributions from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story actor Riz Ahmed as well as rappers K’Naan and Snow Tha Product.
“This election cycle has brought xenophobia and vilification of immigrants back to the forefront of US politics,” Miranda wrote in a post on the website Genius. “This is a musical counterweight.”
Miranda’s “Immigrants” video is part of the Oscar-winner’s ongoing Prizeo #Ham4All campaign, which sees Miranda asking fans and celebrities to post videos to social media of themselves singing Hamilton songs. Contest winners will be treated to tickets to see Hamilton live in Los Angeles.
Participants are asked donate a minimum of $10 to the Immigrants: We Get the Job Done Coalition, which aims to provide services to immigrants and refugees living in the U.S. in partnership with The Hispanic Federation.
Miranda also launched a a “Waterbucket Challenge” viral game that’s a spin on the wildly successful Ice Bucket Challenge, where people are asked to record and post video of themselves rapping their favorite song from Hamilton.
The Moana star is expected to hype the “Waterbucket Challenge” and the #Ham4All campaign in a Thursday appearance on Late Night With Seth Meyers.
Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter @jeromeehudson
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