The performers behind Broadway’s “Hamilton” visited the White House on Monday afternoon to showcase songs from the blockbuster hit musical for the Obamas and a very lucky group of schoolchildren.
Led by star and writer Lin-Manuel Miranda, the “Hamilton” cast has been documenting every stage of the process on social media via the Twitter hashtag #Bam4Ham.
But the highlight of the trip was definitely a freestyle session between Miranda and Obama.
“This is some serious business right here,” President Obama told the composer, lyricist, rapper and actor, in a video posted on the White House’s Facebook page.
“This is the Rose Garden right here, this must be a little nerve-wracking. I hope I don’t drop these cards,” he said, before telling the drummer to “drop the beat” and allowing Miranda to freestyle.
The Broadway star went on to rap about everything from Obamacare, immigration and NASA to the first family’s dogs, Sunny and Bo, as Obama showed off some pretty sharp dance moves of his own.
“Constitution, the POTUS, I’m freestylin’. You know this,” the playwright sings.
“You think that’s going viral? That’s going viral,” Obama says following the impromptu performance. Of course, posting it on the White House’s social-media pages certainly helped and within half an hour it had been retweeted several thousand times.
Earlier in the day, the rest of the “Hamilton” cast socialized with first lady Michelle Obama during their special sit-down meeting. Describing the musical about Alexander Hamilton as “creative, hilarious and memorable,” Michelle Obama said she persuaded her whole family to see it, even daughters Sasha and Malia.
As for her husband, he’s long admitted to being a rap fan and named Kendrick Lamar’s “How Much a Dollar Cost” as his personal song of the year in 2015.
See the performance below.
Wait for it… ?⬇ #Bam4Hamhttps://t.co/vpwTuNf5zn
— White House Archived (@ObamaWhiteHouse) March 15, 2016