Daveed Diggs is an American actor, rapper, singer, and songwriter. Although he is now famous for his roles as the Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson in the musical Hamilton, he is also the vocalist of an experimental hip hop group called clipping.
clipping.
Active since 2009 and labeled as experimental hip hop, industrial hip hop, and noise rap, this trio uses their platform to bring racial and social issues to light. In an interview for the Redbull Music Academy, Daveen Diggs discusses the group’s intention behind avoiding the use of the first-person perspective from their music. This decision caused the group to approach their lyrics with more gender-fluid pronouns and even race-neutral personas. The lyrics are more descriptive this way and keep the focus on a story instead of personal boasting. While clipping. is not the first group to focus on removing the first-person perspective from rap or hip hop (the article mentions Raekwon from Wu-Tang Clan did this previously), it aims to change something which is fundamental to the genre.
Hamilton
Hamilton is groundbreaking with the amount of non-white actors in the cast. While Hamilton has been critically well-received, it has also had controversial reception from different sides. The cast is primarily made up of black and Latino actors playing historical figures who were all white. In fact, out of all the main historical figures, only King George III is played by a white actor (from Lancaster, PA!).
Although the overall reception of Hamilton is extremely positive from its aesthetics (storytelling, music, and performances), the casting has been attacked for several different reasons. Some feel it is uplifting to see nontraditional casting, while others believe it is disrespectful for black and Latinx actors to portray “in a sympathetic manner, white men who had enslaved black people” (quote from Vox article). Others also believe it brings to a harsher light how few non-white historical figures are included in the history of our country.
The positives as well as criticisms continue now, but the way rap is integrated into the musical is exceptional. Without any experience in professional musicals, Daveed Diggs’ role is still integral. Speaking about the power of rap in the musical, he states that “rap is such a useful tool for telling this story. It’s very good at condensing information....By the end of the show, you’ve gone on a journey and learned so much [about so many] characters” (quote from Playbill article).
Daveed’s rapping experience makes him essential for the storytelling of Hamilton. He reaches a speed of 144 words per minute on average and peaks at 6.3 words a second at his quickest in the musical. As a half white/Jewish and half black man, he quickly felt a connection to his characters who were fighting for their rights in a new country, and he was excited to expand Broadway’s inclusivity to American audiences in this way.
Further Reading
Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America
Using Rap Music to Better Understand African American Experiences
‘Is it like a beat without a melody?’: Rap and revolution in Hamilton
Hamilton’s America: An Unfinished Symphony with a Stutter (Beat)
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