It should probably come as no surprise that Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda has a thing for politics. He’s spent the last few years rapping about some of the real founding fathers and politicians, and it seems he isn’t done rapping about his favorite past heads of state. Even if one of them is fictional.
As it turns out, Miranda is a huge fan of the Aaron Sorkin political drama The West Wing. So much so that he wrote a short tune about everyone’s favorite fictional President, Josiah Bartlet (played by Martin Sheen). A recent post on TVLine.com brought this bit of political hip-hop to our attention. Because it’s in Miranda’s special brand of political rap, we’re probably never getting it out of our heads.
Miranda wrote and recorded the lyrics to the song after Hrishi Hirway of The West Wing Weekly (a podcast about the show) created the beat from the podcast’s theme song. The result is a quick but densely informational rap that nods to all manner of West Wing creators and characters. What we particularly love is the chorus of the song as it loops President Bartlet saying what could be considered his catchphrase: “What’s next?” Somehow, that really works in a rap song. Our only criticism, if you can even count this as one, would be that there’s no mention of the distinct way President Bartlet always put on his coats. “Flippin’ you like my jackets” seems as if it could have made for an awesome rap diss.
What do you think about Lin-Manuel’s West Wing rap? Does it make you miss the show as much we do? Let’s discuss in the comments below!
Featured Image: Steve Jurvetson/Flickr