2009 White House Poetry Jam

The 2009 White House Poetry Jam (Also know as White House's Evening of Poetry, Music, and the Spoken Word) was the first ever White House Poetry Jam, started by President Barack Obama in the first year of his presidency.

Relevant History

This was the first public performance of any material from Hamilton, Off-Broadway Hamilton or The Hamilton Mixtape. Lin-Manuel Miranda performed the piece and Alex Lacamoire was the pianist.

Lin-Manuel Miranda was invited to the poetry jam off the back of the success of the Broadway musical In The Heights.

Lin-Manuel told the audience he was currently working on a Concept Hip-Hop Album (Later to be named The Hamilton Mixtape) about the life of Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, someone he thinks "embodies hip-hop"

He described in light detail why Hamilton was hip-hop; born a penniless orphan, he was a bastard child, rose to become George Washington's right-hand-man, became Treasury Secretary, "caught beef with every other founding father" and became what he was on the back of his writings.

Lin-Manuel played Vice-President Aaron Burr and performed the first version of Alexander Hamilton which was maintained almost word-for-word until the final version in 2016's Hamilton, with words and parts only being added.

The differences can be seen below

"You never backed down, you always had to speak your mind" — Lin-Manuel Miranda, "2009 White House Poetry Jam"	"You could never back down, you never learned to take your time" — Ensemble, "Alexander Hamilton"
"But, Alexander Hamilton, we could never take your deeds from you. In our cowardice and our shame, we will try to destroy your name! The world will never be the same." — Lin-Manuel Miranda, "2009 White House Poetry Jam"	"Oh, Alexander Hamilton, when America sings for you, will they know what you overcame? Will they know you rewrote the game?The world will never be the same, oh" — Ensemble, "Alexander Hamilton"