Hamilton's Renee Elizabeth Goldsberry Reps Great Women of History In BET Freestyle Cypher

If you had any questions about whether Broadway’s Hamilton is helping bring musical theater to hip-hop culture, look no further than Tuesday night’s BET Hip-Hop Awards, in which cast members became the first Broadway cast to cross over into the legendary Cypher. It was exciting, and best of all, Renée Elizabeth Goldsberry—who plays Angelica Schuyler, Alexander Hamilton’s sister-in-law and intellectual love interest—repped our set by namedropping powerful women throughout history.

The cypher begins with Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton’s star and creator, who’s no stranger to freestyles—his side hustle is an ensemble called Freestyle Love Supreme, which has been blending freestyle, improv, and stage comedy at New York City’s Joe’s Pub for years. Miranda says he’s going to “literally bring the drama,” invoking a Pultizer and bragging about almost having that hallowed quartet of institutional awards, the Emmy-Grammy-Oscar-Tony (EGOT). When was the last time you heard a rapper brag about almost going EGOT? It’s a hell of a boast: “Got a Grammy, got a Tony, got a Emmy, goddammit homie, somebody show me the way to the Oscars.”