From Jay-Z to LES MIZ, Lin-Manuel Miranda Reveals Influences Behind Broadway's HAMILTON

When taking pen to paper to bring the life of founding father Alexander Hamilton to the stage, Lin-Manuel found inspiration in far off places - from GRAND THEFT AUTO's free-roaming firefights to hip-hop's best beats.

In a new interview with Vulture, which will soon run in New York Magazine, Miranda details 18 of the top influences behind his hit show HAMILTON, including rap star Jay-Z, Broadway's beloved LES MISERABLES and so much more.

On Jay-Z, Miranda wrote:

"In crafting the battles, I listened a lot to the Jay Z-Nas beefs. "Takeover" is such a systematic takedown of Nas; it's "Here's how many albums you put out. One of them is good." It's so clinical that it's kind of devastating. And Nas's response to Jay Z was no less brutal or enthusiastic. I listened to those a lot when it came to the battle raps; taking each other down but in an intelligent way. And there's a little ode to 8 Mile in the way those scenes are structured."

On LES MIZ:

"Les Miz bubbles up because it is an epic revolutionary score and it's the first Broadway show I ever saw. I learned a lot from Les Miz about compression and returning to themes."

And on the long-running political drama THE WEST WING:

"West Wing was huge. Like Hamilton, it pulls back the curtain on how decision-making happens at the highest level, or at least how you hope it would be. The amount of information Aaron Sorkin packs into a scene gave me this courage to trust the audience to keep up."

For Miranda's full list of influences, check out the original interview here.

HAMILTON has book, music and lyrics by Tony and Grammy Award-winning composer Lin Manuel Miranda, who also plays the title role. The musical is directed by Thomas Kail, with choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler and music direction and orchestrations by Alex Lacamoire. HAMILTON is inspired by Ron Chernow's biography "AlexanderHamilton."

HAMILTON which recently transferred to Broadway following a sold-out run at The Public Theater in NYC is the acclaimed new musical about the scrappy young immigrant Alexander Hamilton, the $10 Founding Father who forever changed America with his revolutionary ideas and actions. During his life cut too short, he served as George Washington's chief aide, was the first Treasury Secretary, a loving husband and father, despised by his fellowFounding Fathers and shot to death by Aaron Burr in their legendary duel.

Photo Credit: Joan Marcus