For those of you who are die-hard Hamilton fans— good news! Lin-Manuel Miranda has released the new Hamilton Mixtape “Immigrants (We Get the Job Done)
Saw this tweet:
and headed off to view the video :
Lyrics
It’s getting quite a bit of positive press:
Lin-Manuel Miranda Releases 'Immigrants' Video From 'Hamilton Mixtape'
Inspired by a lyric in the Hamilton song "Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)," the "Immigrants" video focuses on the refugees' plight – from war-torn situations to ICE raids – as well as their indispensable contributions upon immigrating to America.
The video features rappers K'naan, Residente, Riz MC (a.k.a. The Night Of actor Riz Ahmed) and Snow Tha Product – a Somali Canadian, Puerto Rican, British Pakistani and Mexican-American, Mashable notes – delivering their respective verses.
In addition to the video, Miranda announced a Prizeo contest to benefit the Immigrants: We Get The Job Done Coalition, "an alliance of immigration-focused nonprofits throughout the US assembled by The Hispanic Federation."
The sweepstakes, which fans can enter for a minimum of $10, will offer a grand prize of tickets to the premiere of the Los Angeles offshoot of Hamilton as well as a meet-and-greet with Miranda.
“Immigrants, we get the job done”: The new Hamilton Mixtape video will give you chills
The mini-film opens with the lyrics: “I got one job, two job, three when I need ’em. / I’ve got five roommates in this one studio but I never really see them.”
The video, which runs about six minutes long, chronicles a variety of immigrant experiences, including labor contributions and a poignant scene of a refugee father and his young son seeking a better life.
The Story Behind the “Immigrants (We Get the Job Done)” Video From “The Hamilton Mixtape”
There’s a line that gets repeated several times in “Immigrants (We Get the Job Done),” a track off The Hamilton Mixtape — “It’s America’s ghost writers, a credit is only borrowed” — and that stuck with Tomás Whitmore. On Wednesday, shortly after the video began trending, the director behind the "Immigrants" music video talked to BuzzFeed News about the story he wanted to tell with it and its political implications.
“Within the political climate and all the xenophobia that’s persisting within the conversation, it felt like a really unique opportunity to give a voice to the immigrant narrative, and to shine a spotlight on, as the song says, ‘America’s ghost writers’ — a lot of people that make this country great and that we don’t often get to see in mainstream media,” Whitmore said.
"Immigrants" is performed by K’naan, Snow tha Product, Riz MC, and Residente — all of whom appear in the video — and it samples “Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)” from Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton. The song was released in December on The Hamilton Mixtape, which featured covers and remixes of songs from the record-breaking musical. The titular lyric of "Immigrants" comes from a line that consistently gets applause during Hamilton, but the Mixtape version features other original lyrics.
As Trump and the Republicans ramp up the xenophobia — Lin Manuel pumps up the push-back.
Pa’lante!