Lin-Manuel Miranda The Roots Freestyle Tonight Show
Lin-Manuel Miranda, the creative mastermind behind Hamilton, paid a visit to the Tonight Show Friday night--and things got real hip-hop real quick. Miranda and The Roots launched into a brand new Tonight Show game dubbed "Wheel of Freestyle," in which each contestant must kick off-the-cuff rhymes about three random subjects. And yes, the playwright came correct.
Manuel took first crack at the game with a combination of "Rainbow + Pancake + Slam Dunk," and wove them into a spontaneous soliloquy about LGBTQ flag-waving, Drake and Michael Jordan's tongue. Black Thought followed with the task of combining "Mars + Hot Pocket + Channing Tatum" and kept things competitive as only he can. Lin-Manuel Miranda got one more crack at it, though and skillfully rapped over a prompt of pumpkin pie and Darth Vader.
But Manuel wasn't only on the Fallon couch to rap--he took ample time to discuss the music and motivations behind Hamilton, and stressed that The Roots' involvement has been vital to its success. "Our dream collaborators were [the Roots] because they play every genre on your show every night, and they just can do anything," Miranda told Fallon. "So we were like 'God, if we can get the Roots to come to the show, maybe they would get it.' So it's been just an amazing collaboration."
Watch both segments below and do everything you can to catch Hamilton live on Broadway the next time you're in NYC. The musical's original cast recording, produced by The Roots, is also available on iTunes.
