At Home with Lin-Manuel Miranda: The Playlist

Lin-Manuel Miranda is adapting to self-quarantine with his family in the wake of this pandemic. “I have a kid in kindergarten, and we’re figuring out what homeschooling looks like, and then subsequently what virtual learning looks like,” Miranda tells Apple Music. “We’re figuring out what we need when we leave the house and what is truly essential. It was really just a lot of processing what is the new normal.” In his candid At Home With interview with Zane Lowe, the composer, lyricist, actor and playwright shares his thoughts about growing up in NYC in the ’90s during hip-hop’s golden age, making his blockbuster Broadway musical Hamilton more accessible and his small steps towards social change in the theatre industry both in front of and behind the curtain. Miranda also created an exclusive Apple Music playlist of songs bringing him joy during lockdown, which includes recommended tunes from Calle 13, clipping. and Leslie Odom, Jr. Also included is Panamanian salsa giant Rubén Blades, whose 1984 album Buscando América, which translates to “Searching for America”, resonated with him from an early age. “It was these Latin songs that were this meditation of not America in the sense of United States, but like the North, Middle and South America,” he says. “You're dancing and then you stop to listen to the lyrics and go, 'Oh, this is some of the most profound poetry I've ever heard.’ He can write that dance hit if he wants to with his eyes closed, but he can also make you think.”