‘Hamilton’ rap-sody is on ‘Wicked’ pace
The Great White Way is making rap history.
Broadway musical “Hamilton,” the hottest show of the fall, is burning up the rap charts and is currently the fourthranked album — behind Drake and Future, Fetty Wap and Mac Miller.
Adding to its bragging rights, the Warner Musicreleased album had the highest debut ever for an original cast recording. It is No. 1 for the week, topping perennially popular “Wicked,” according to Nielsen SoundScan.
As of Friday, the cast recording, a blend of R&B, hiphop and rap, had attracted eight million streams since its Sept. 25 debut. In its first week alone, it notched two million Spotify streams.
Warner’s backing of the show — even before it lit up Broadway — is paying off for the thirdbiggest music major.
Warner owner Len Blavatnik was an early investor in the show when it was playing in a public theater in the East Village.
Craig Kallman, chief executive of Warner’s Atlantic Records, signed the soundtrack, while Warner/Chappell has the publishing rights. The music major is banking that the “Hamilton” CD, released Oct. 16, will also be a recordbreaker.
The musical, which follows the nation’s founding fathers with a focus on Alexander Hamilton, is bringing hiphop to older Broadway audiences while introducing younger people to theater, Kallman said.
“We did not want to approach it like the typical cast album, which is recorded in one or two days, then mixed, edited and mastered within two weeks,” he said. “We took a month and half to record and mix Hamilton, which is unheard of for a cast album.”
“We also wanted to create a desert island disc for all time. One that can stand side by side with not just the greatest cast albums but as a compelling work of art in its own right,” he added.