A few years ago, a friend introduced me to a recording of the mind-blowing musical Hamilton (if you haven’t seen or heard it, do yourself a favour and check it out). Our whole family was, for a time, obsessed with it.
A few months after that, I was preparing for a talk at Xebia in Amsterdam. I was wondering how I could spice up the talk a little by doing something whimsical and lighthearted and a little silly, and I had an hour or so of free time, and this musical rattling around in my head.
The result was a two-minute rap on all the things that humans can do and that tools can’t do. The audience at Xebia seemed to enjoy it, so I took the show on the road and delivered the rap at several conferences and meetups over the next couple of years.
A couple of months ago, a fellow I had never met named Larry Petersen dropped a message into my emailbox, telling me that he had done something even more whimsical and even sillier: he had edited audio of one of the recorded performances of the rap, and set it to a backing beat with accompanying video.
I’ve done some work with video myself, so I’m well aware of the time effort this must have taken. I’m very flattered and very grateful.
Thank you, Larry!
This was an absolute joy to read. The way you connect inspiration from Hamilton to a creative, human-centered moment in the tech world is both refreshing and motivating. The rap itself sounds like a brilliant reminder of what makes us human beyond the tools we build, and it’s wonderful to see how the audience embraced it across different conferences. The collaboration with Larry Petersen adds another beautiful layer to the story—such a great example of creativity inspiring creativity. Truly uplifting, thoughtful, and fun. Thanks for sharing this experience!