So many talenyed actual islander musicians and we get typical disney bs bringing him in pretending to be diversity.
shareI understand your sentiment, but Disney has regularly recruited Broadway lyricists and musicians to compose songs for their musical animated films since the late 1980s.
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Yes, there are many talented Polynesian musicians. Like Opetaia Foa'i, who is also listed as a composer on the film. So they have three composers working in concert:
A long-time veteran movie/television movie producer/composer.
The Big Broadway Name right now, experienced in modern pop and hip hop musical styles.
A native Pacific islander who is a successful singer/songwriter and is in one of the most popular Polynesian musical groups (Te Vaka).
That seems like a pretty damn fine mix, if you ask me.
My only problem with him is not his origin but the fact that the world is having a "Beyonce" moment for the guy, which means that even if I don't like the music (and so far, everything points to me finding it altogether bland) I will have to watch who I say that around. Miranda can do no wrong. Miranda is a genius. All hail the Hamilton dude. FML
shareYou're obviously perfectly entitled to not like his music if it's just not your cup of tea, but if you've only heard a couple of his songs out of context I would say it's probably worth giving Hamilton a shot :) There's a PBS documentary that came out a few weeks ago called Hamilton's America that I actually think is a pretty great introduction to the show as it gives you the historical context to get a sense of what's going on in a super lyrically-dense show, and it also gives you a broader view of the show as a whole than if you just start from the beginning of the cast recording and aren't crazy about the first few songs.
The thing about Lin is that he writes a LOT of different styles, and a lot of his music is very lyric and story driven, so if you're just hearing a couple of the particularly rap-heavy songs with no context, that may not be your cup of tea but it doesn't necessarily mean you won't appreciate the music and storytelling over all.
Now, again, I'm not saying that's definitely the case- it may just be that his music doesn't jive with you, and that's cool! I personally think he IS a genius and there's very few songs he's written that I *don't* enjoy, but that's just me haha. No artist is ever going to be beloved by absolutely everyone, because everyone has different tastes. But I just think, if you've only heard a few songs of his, it might be worth checking out some of his work in somewhat of a full form. If not the Hamilton cast recording, then just give Moana a shot! And if you don't like the music, then it's not your thing.
But you'd be missing out if you were to find out that maybe you do like at least some of his music but were just avoiding it just because he's "too popular" or something like that. I know some people can be like that, where they refuse to like anything a lot of other people like, and that's always seemed pretty ridiculous to me.
Oh Bambi, I cried so hard when those hunters shot your mommy. - Kurt Hummel