This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Think Utah legislators are just a bunch of old fogeys? After a bit of rap by a member, the Utah House passed a resolution Thursday honoring the composer of the current hip-hop musical on Broadway.
It voted 72-0 to pass HCR12 to honor Lin-Manuel Miranda, composer of the Broadway musical "Hamilton," about Founding Father Alexander Hamilton.
Rep. Ken Ivory, R-West Jordan, sponsor of the resolution, said Hamilton has "children singing and dancing the history of America," and that "is a marvel."
Ivory even broke into some hip-hop himself during debate.
Sing-songing from the play, Ivory said that Hamilton was, "The ten-dollar Founding Father without a father/Got a lot farther/By workin' a lot harder/By bein' a lot smarter/By bein' a self-starter/By fourteen they had placed him in charge of the trade and charter."
Ivory said he was recently playing the soundtrack loudly, and his wife told him "to turn down my hip-hop because it was keeping her mother awake."
The resolution, which now goes to the Senate, uses some other lyrics to urge "teachers, when possible and age-appropriate, to utilize the 'Hamilton' soundtrack to 'lay a strong enough foundation' in American history in today's students and "[they'll] blow us all away."
— Lee Davidson