Released: November 4, 2016

Featuring: Nate Ruess Joell Ortiz Busta Rhymes

Songwriter: Joell Ortiz Prodigy of Mobb Deep Havoc Easy Mo Bee Busta Rhymes Black Thought The Notorious B.I.G. Lin-Manuel Miranda

Producer: Mike Elizondo

[Intro: Nate Ruess]
The Hamilton Mixtape
Woah, woah, woah, woah
Woah, woah, woah

[Verse 1: Black Thought]
Ayo, mugshot, gun shot, dope shot, jump shot
Take your pick—but you only get one shot
Advice from a schoolteacher to a young tot
Applyin' a sticker to his Spider-man lunchbox
When even role models tell us we're born to be felons
We're never gettin' into Harvard or Carnegie Mellon
And we gon' end up either robbin' somebody or killin'
It's not fair that's all they can tell us
That's why I hustle hella hard, never celebrate a holiday
That'll be the day I coulda finally hit the lottery
I refuse to ever lose or throw my shot away
Or chalk it up as just another one that got away
So I'm unapologetic, I'm on my calisthenics
If I have given it all I got I cannot regret it
My point of destination's different from where I was headed
'Cause I'ma shoot for the stars to get it
One shot

[Hook: Black Thought]
I said I'm not throwin' away my shot
I said I'm not throwin' away my shot
Yo, I'm just like my country
I'm young, scrappy, and hungry
And I'm not throwin' away my shot
I said I'm not throwin' away my shot
No, I'm not throwin' away my shot
Yo, I'm just like my country
I'm young, scrappy, and hungry
And I'm not throwin' away my shot

[Verse 2: Joell Ortiz]
When opportunity knock, you don't send anyone to get it
Answer the door, welcome it, let it in, or regret it
They said if you can't beat 'em, you join 'em
I say, "Forget it"
'Cause once you join 'em you're buildin' a ceilin' the way you're headed
Be American, express how you feel and take the credit
Don't settle for 87, go premium unleaded and
Take off, shake all the hate off, it's over
It's they loss, the payoff's their weight off your shoulders
Must admit, I'm feelin', um, kinda, um
Lighter as a writer with this fire and desire to go higher
Than a stealth fighter pilot with my eye on every prize
I surprise you guys, I'm a prize fighter (Yeah)
My nine to five describe your scribe, survive minor
Setbacks and take steps back from pied pipers
Be leaders, believers in yourself and mean it
I mean you only get one shot, take it or leave it

[Hook: Black Thought]
I said I'm not throwin' away my shot
I said I'm not throwin' away my shot
Yo, I'm just like my country
I'm young, scrappy, and hungry
And I'm not throwin' away my shot
I said I'm not throwin' away my shot
No, I'm not throwin' away my shot
Ayo, I'm just like my country
I'm young, scrappy, and hungry
And I'm not throwin' away my shot

[Bridge: Busta Rhymes]
Rise up
If you livin' on your knees, you rise up
Tell your brother that he's gotta rise up
Tell your sister that she's gotta rise up
When are folks like me and you gonna rise up?
Every city, every hood, we need to rise up
All my soldiers, what's good? We need to wise up
We ain't got no other choice, we need to wise up
Rise up!

[Verse 3: Busta Rhymes]
Throughout my travels and journeys through life I've been searchin'
And been learnin' to be the type of person
To display how determined I get when I'm certain
Inside I feel that fire that's burnin'
Like a knife that is turnin', I fight while I'm hurtin'
Sometimes they're right 'cause life is a burden
Like the pain from a bite that'll worsen
Tryna stifle the light that'll shine on me first and
Before I ride in a hearse and
My breathing stops
And never take my one shot I got 'fore I lie in the earth
And now I come again holdin' down Hamilton Hercules Mulligan
Readin' in Vanity Fair or the Huffington
Done with the sufferin', we in the guts again, family rushin' in
Wonder where Busta been
Feelin' the hunger and feedin' the lust to win (Lust to win)
See I've been patiently waitin' for this moment
To rise up again, that's the way I was molded
And as the last one standin' as the rest of them foldin'
Give me my one chance to grab the torch and properly hold it

[Hook: Black Thought]
I said I'm not throwin' away my shot
I said I'm not throwin' away my shot
Ayo, I'm just like my country
I'm young, scrappy, and hungry
And I'm not throwin' away my shot
I said I'm not throwin' away my shot
No, I'm not throwin' away my shot
Ayo, I'm just like my country
I'm young, scrappy, and hungry
And I'm not throwin' away my shot
I said I'm not throwin' away my shot
I said I'm not throwin' away my shot
Ayo, I'm just like my country
I'm young, scrappy, and hungry
And I'm not throwin' away my shot
I said I'm not throwin' away my shot
No, I'm not throwin' away my shot
Ayo, I'm just like my country
I'm young, scrappy, and hungry
And I'm not throwin' away my shot
It's time to take a shot

[Outro: Nate Ruess]
Woah, woah, woah, woah
Woah, woah, woah, woah

The Roots

The world’s premiere hip-hop band, The Roots were formed in Philadelphia in 1987 by MC Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter and drummer and bandleader Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson. Since those early days, the band has weathered changes in personnel and record labels while performing hundreds of shows a year and releasing a string of well-regarded (if not always top-selling) albums.

While the musicianship of Thompson and the other band members, as well as their seemingly limitless repertoire, gets most of the attention, real hip-hop fans know that the rapping skills of Black Thought (along with former group member Malik B.) are the group’s hidden weapon. Thought, one of the few MCs brave enough to go toe to toe with Big Pun, handles any groove the band throws at him with aplomb, style, and flash.

Today, The Roots are seen by millions every night as the house band on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, a move that has given the group the chance to indulge its not-insignificant comic side.