My Shot
"My Shot" is the third song from Act 1 of the musical "Hamilton", based on the life of Alexander Hamilton, which premiered on Broadway in 2015. Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote both the music and lyrics to the song. Synopsis. In 1776, having just emigrated from the island of Nevis to New York City, 19-year-old Alexander Hamilton wows several other young revolutionaries with his verbal skills, speaking about his hopes for the future, his disillusionment with the British, and his desire to be remembered, even if it means dying. The other revolutionaries, who also rap about their  own hopes for and reservations about the future, are: Despite Burr's warnings, the men continue rapping about the rebellion and encouraging other Americans to rise up with them against the British, while Burr remains silent. The tune is reprised during the songs "Right Hand Man", "Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)", and "Non-Stop", while the some of the themes and lyrics are revisited in "The World Was Wide Enough". The number contains interpolations of lyrics from the rap songs "Shook Ones (Part II)" by Mobb Deep and "Going Back to Cali" by The Notorious B.I.G. It also contains  a lyric from "You've Got to Be Carefully Taught", from "South Pacific" by Rodgers and Hammerstein. These sources are credited in the credits of the 2020 filmed version of "Hamilton". Analysis. "Vibe" described the backing as "reminiscent of the '90s". "The Los Angeles Times" said the song had "Eminem combustion". "Vulture" said the song was reminiscent of Eminem's "Lose Yourself". TapInto notes that this song becomes ironic by the end of the musical because Hamilton does, indeed, throw away his shot in the fatal duel with Aaron Burr. "Deadline" notes that "I am not throwing away my shot  becomes Hamilton's mantra. Critical reception. TapInto deemed it a ferocious song". "The Huffington Post" suggested the song would make a good opening number to the musical. Popular culture. The song was one of many performed at the White House in March 2016. A parody of the song was performed by Miranda as his opening monologue on the October 8, 2016, episode of "Saturday Night Live". The song was parodied and performed by The Roots during "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" "Football Raps" segment on August 3, 2017. On March 9, 2021, a group of doctors called "Vax'n 8  released a remix of the song and a video called My Shot: A COVID Vaccine Adaptation" to inspire people to get vaccinated for COVID-19. Mixtape version. "My Shot (Rise Up Remix)" is a song recorded by The Roots featuring Busta Rhymes, Joell Ortiz, and Nate Ruess from "The Hamilton Mixtape". The song peaked at number 16 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales chart. It was featured in the credits of the filmed version of the musical on Disney+.