“What’s your name, man?”

“Alexander Hamilton.”

The musical Hamilton, which originally started as an idea in an airport, has made its journey from off-Broadway to the hearts of many Americans. Hamilton has won a Grammy for best musical theater album and a Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and was recently nominated for 16 Tony awards, with nominations in acting, writing, directing, dance, music and design.

Though Hamilton is a masterpiece of its own, what could have possibly inspired someone to simply write a musical about Alexander Hamilton?

Sitting in an airport during his vacation from his Broadway show In The Heights, Lin-Manuel Miranda decided to read a biography of Alexander Hamilton. After finishing the book, Miranda began quickly envisioning the life of Alexander Hamilton as a musical; thus came the birth of Hamilton.

It isn’t surprising that after reading about Alexander Hamilton, Miranda became intrigued by his life. Hamilton was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States back in the eighteenth century. He is responsible for many of the political principles we have today and for founding the national banking system. It is possible that Hamilton could have contributed much more to our society, but he was shot at age 49 by Aaron Burr in a duel in 1804. Many, like Miranda, are fascinated with his brief life, making him one of the more interesting figures in American history.

Pursuing his idea of a Hamiltonian musical, Miranda started to put together the music for Hamilton, labeling it “The Hamilton Mixtape.” Miranda was invited to the White House to perform a musical number from In The Heights for The White House Evening of Poetry. Instead, he performed the first song on The Hamilton Mixtape, “Alexander Hamilton,” which would later become the opening song for the musical.

Compared to other musicals on Broadway, Hamilton is not exactly traditional. The music in Hamilton branches out from the average ballad with standard instrument accompaniment to more of a rap style. The musical does not feature hard core rap, but rather a different type of rap, more along the lines of classical.

While one may think that classical music and rap do not go together, the two accommodate each other quite nicely. Those who took the time to listen to the soundtrack for Hamilton were pleasantly surprised. Marissa Oslick, an active member of the theater department, immediately fell in love with the musical.

“It told the story of someone I didn’t know very much about in a way I hadn’t thought about before, and the music is incredible. It was different than any other musical I had ever listened to, it had mostly rap and hip hop, but it was about the Founding Fathers, so it was a really cool twist. I’m very proud of my ability to rap some of the songs,” Marissa says.

After its trip to the White House, Hamilton made its successful debut off-Broadway in February 2015; it was then transferred to Broadway in August 2015. Since its release, Hamilton has become increasingly popular.

It has become so popular that when the Treasury was considering removing Alexander Hamilton off of the $10 bill, Hamilton super fans became furious due to the fact that Hamilton created the Treasury Department and the American financial system. If the musical hadn’t been such a hit, it’s possible that Americans would have lost Hamilton from the $10 bill.

As of right now, you can only see Hamilton in New York, but starting next year, Hamilton will begin its national tour across the United States. If you enjoy musical theater, like American history or are just curious about Hamilton, don’t miss the show in San Francisco in March 2017 or whip out those earbuds and listen to the soundtrack.