I like to separate the music- and lyric-writing processes if I can. I'll sort of noodle around on my keyboard and my computer until I have a beat or a chord progression, I'll record it as a loop, export it to iTunes, then walk around with the loop and sort of talk to myself in the loop, and that's how I get the lyrics. Lin-Manuel Miranda beatchordcomputer share on social
There's been lots of theater that uses hip-hop in it, but more often than not, it's used as a joke - isn't it hilarious that these characters are rapping. I treat it as a musical form, and a musical form that allows you to pack in a ton of lyric. Lin-Manuel Miranda characterformhilarious share on social
I always had an eye toward the stage for the story of Hamilton's life, but I began with the idea of a concept album, the way Andrew Lloyd Webber's 'Evita' and 'Jesus Christ Superstar' were albums before they were musicals. Lin-Manuel Miranda albumandrewbegin share on social
A lot of the reason the Universal version of 'Heights' went away is that they were afraid they didn't have a big enough Latino star to bankroll this movie. The people I dealt with at the studio who wanted to make this movie were very passionate about it. Lin-Manuel Miranda afraidbankrollbig share on social
I couldn't possibly write 'Next to Normal,' but God, I can weep and watch 'Next to Normal' five times. Lin-Manuel Miranda godnormalpossibly Change image and share on social
I kind of need to be ambulatory to write lyrics. Lin-Manuel Miranda ambulatorykindlyric Change image and share on social
The fun for me in collaboration is, one, working with other people just makes you smarter; that's proven. Lin-Manuel Miranda collaborationfunmake Change image and share on social
'Rent' was the show that made me want to write. Or that showed me you're allowed to write. Lin-Manuel Miranda allowmakerend Change image and share on social
You could do a 'Les Mis'-type musical about Hamilton, but it would have to be 12 hours long, because the amount of words on the bars when you're writing a typical song - that's maybe got 10 words per line. Lin-Manuel Miranda amountbarhamilton share on social