I'm gonna tell on Elektra, because she's always doing this to me. She reads something online, and then waxes enthusiastic about it to me. I nod and say, 'That's nice,' but I don't get the point. That's because she leaves out some key fact, without which I have no way of making the connection to her story.

The other day, Elektra was going on about how Jamie Lee Curtis went to see some musical called Hamilton on Broadway – oh, by the way, they made a musical about Alexander Hamilton, lord knows why – and it inspired Ms Curtis to talk about a really great history teacher she had, and how people should teach history in a more interesting way. And wasn't Jamie Lee Curtis just the nicest person, etc? Um, hm, I nodded. I forgot about this until somebody else mentioned Hamilton, and it occurred to me that I should probably check it out.

It's hip-hop. A hip-hop musical about Alexander Hamilton. Looks exciting: great costumes, clever lyrics, the whole bit. A new generation will get a whole new look at the Founders. And using performers of colour is a brilliant touch.

The problem is, I am allergic to hip-hop music. It isn't that I'm a snob. Who, me? Sure, I like ancient Stuff, and classical music, and hymns from the Sacred Harp. But I find Barenaked Ladies musically stimulating. I actually like this song. It makes me laugh.

Unfortunately, hip-hop makes me cry. After about ten minutes of being subjected to it, I not only turn off my hearing aids, but wish I could turn off my brain – which is just not built for hip-hop. It's the rhythm, the repeated messages. I do not criticise. I merely observe that I am the wrong audience for this sort of thing.

I'm sure the musical will be a huge success, and rekindle public interest in the man on the ten-dollar bill. I doubt if there will be many quotes from the Federalist Papers in the performance, however. There's a show-stopping number called 'My Shot', and I can sort of see the connection between gangsta music and a Founder who was killed in a gun duel in Weehawken, New Jersey. Maybe there will be more discussion of musket control…

The thing is, art – whether musical or written-word – needs to feed the soul. Hip-hop does not feed mine. It's not even junk food for me: it's more like something containing gluten, which I can't digest. But if hip-hop feeds yours, go for it. Make sure you do what this composer did. I'm reliably informed that he included fresh, new messages and many musical 'references' to everything from show tunes to contemporary hip-hop and rap memes. Good deal.

Whatever genre you find yourself in, serve it as well as you can. Delve into its riches. Develop your themes. Explore its possibilities. Arcane is good, but only if others can understand. Like Alexander Hamilton, give it your best shot. (And shoot better than he did.) Innovation for its own sake is wasted space – but innovation with a purpose can accomplish wonders.

And I can always go back to watching 1776, which, if more traditional, is at least comprehensible to old duffers (and just as irreverent). Do you have a particular insight into a groundbreaking genre idea? Go for it. And let us know: it might, just might, feed our souls as well.

PS aka Editor's Rant: For as long as it's available and if you can get it in your region, NPR is running the songs. I'm listening, and, well, it's not as musically painful as I feared. Nor am I impressed. It's clever, that must be said. The enthusiastic NPR reviewer says, 'It's a work of historical fiction that honors the sentiments of rap, a play off collective memory that feels overwhelming personal.' The Chicago Tribune calls it 'surely the most entertaining, provocative and moving civics lesson in Broadway history.' It doesn't feel that way to me. It feels like the usual commercial fluff – the truth be hanged, this is the way we want to see it. So be it, enjoy. The reviewers also gush about the comic portrayal of King George III. Oh, groan. Now everybody will think he was that way, and nothing I ever write will change their minds, because that's the 'real' version. Poor Farmer George, you're not even history now. Broadway has spoken. And Alex Hamilton is a stand-up guy? Erm…

And they complain about the Disneyfication of history. Couldn't get you get it right and be clever at the same time? Or is that too much to ask, artists?

Writing Right with Dmitri Archive

Dmitri Gheorgheni

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