The Creative Styles of ‘Hamilton’ Alum Khiyon Hursey

A true artist who loves to create his own work and produce unique soundtracks. Khiyon Hursey is working to push musical theatre into the contemporary world of popular music.

The writer and composer has been involved with multiple projects throughout his career, most notably working as the music assistant and helping to develop the memorable score for Broadway’s smash hit, Hamilton. Since then, Hursey has gone on to collaborate with Universal Studios, HBO Max, Netflix, and many other production companies.

Recently, he finished co-penning songs with Grammy Winners Benj Pasek and Justin Paul for Spirited, a major motion picture starring Ryan Reynolds, Will Ferrell, and Octavia Spencer, and he is currently co-writing Love in America, a movie musical set to be produced by Issa Rae. Hursey also started working on a Netflix project with Pharrell Williams that will be featured as a movie musical and set to premiere during the 2023 holiday season.

OFM caught up with Hursey to talk more about his experience writing for stage and screen, his process for developing a score, and the impact he hopes to make on younger generations of creatives.

Let me begin by asking, is there anything you can say about the upcoming Netflix project you are working on with Pharrell Williams?
(Laughs) I cannot say anything just yet, but I am super excited to collaborate with him.

What are you looking forward to the most about collaborating with him?
He’s incredible. He’s a legend, and he is someone who I have always wanted to work with. I am super excited to jump in and dive into that process.

Have you always had a passion for writing and composing music?
Yes, I have always had a passion ever since I was a little kid. I started to study jazz when I was 10, and from there, I became obsessed with pop music. Then I went into musical theatre. I’ve always had a rich love for all styles of music. Pop music, jazz, hip hop, all styles.

One of your most notable credits was working as a music assistant for Broadway’s Hamilton with the original cast. What was that experience like, and how did you get involved with the production?
Working on Hamilton, I always call it grad school because I worked on it when I was 20, and it was such a formative experience just to see Lin, Tommy, Alex, and Andy create that incredible piece of theater. It’s such a touchstone experience in my life, and I got that job because I met the music director and orchestrator, Alex Lacamoire, while we were doing a benefit event at the Gershwin Theatre in New York.

I was assisting another performer, and I kind of just walked up to him and was like, ‘Hi, I’m Khiyon. I just graduated; let me know if you need any help.’ He was like, I need help on a thing called Hamilton, and at the time, not a lot of people knew what Hamilton was. People in the theatre industry knew what it was, but it was still very much under wraps. I obviously said yes, and my life has never been the same since.

How does it feel to know that your work is featured in a groundbreaking musical that has broken records, barriers, and has won several awards?
It’s still unfathomable in a lot of ways because no one can predict a phenomenon. We knew that it was going to be special in the Broadway community and the theatre community, but I think it’s incredible to see how far it’s gone and how far it’s changed lives, specifically the lives of many young, Black artists who are inspired to jump into the arts and theater. It’s just incredibly exciting to see these young kids who know it better than I do at this point. I’m just like, wow. What a beautiful feeling to experience over and over again.

Obviously, that’s one of the biggest perks of the job. What were some of the challenges you had to face?
I definitely faced challenges in terms of figuring out how to collaborate with people. Not everyone that I collaborate with comes from the musical theater space, so a lot of the time, it’s also about meeting them where they’re at and figuring out how to bring what they do into what I do. I think that is a beautiful challenge in a lot of ways, and I also tend to work with a lot of people who don’t write musicals or have never written one. I like to call it a beautiful challenge in terms of, like, we’re creating something in the musical theatre space, but we’re also pushing it forward and inviting voices that have never been in that space before.

What are some elements you like to incorporate in your soundtracks and music to ensure they are truly unique and stand out?
I almost always look towards contemporary means of modes of production. A lot of my music feels very Kendrick Lamar-inspired with soundscapes, 808s, and such. I also tend to sneak my voice in a lot of my music, even if I’m not specifically performing it. Just as a textual thing to give it a signature feeling of my own soul. I also think, because I tend to live in the rap world, I think there is a specific way that I write rap. In a way that Lin has a very specific rap style, I have my own rap style that feels unique and specific to me. I feel that’s how I differentiate myself from the rest of the music world.

Is there a particular song from Hamilton that you worked on the most?
I have a vivid memory of doing “One Last Time,” and this was when we were doing rehearsals for Broadway, and the song got a complete rewrite. I remember getting the new song around 8:00 p.m., and they’re like, we need it in the morning. OK, guess I’m staying up all night to do this song (laughs). Chris Jackson rehearsed it the next day, and it was beautiful to viscerally be a part of that moment and help that song come to life. Also, just to see how Lin continues to rewrite it in real time and witness that in real time. That was one of the most special moments of that process.

What can you tell us about Love in America, the movie musical that is being produced by Issa Rae?
I can’t say too much about it, but we are in development. It’s been a couple of years now, but we are certainly moving it along, and we’re very excited for everyone to eventually see it. We are deep in the trenches with the film right now, and it’s a musical that we have not ever seen in film with people that we’ve never seen focused on before.

Is the process of writing for tv and film different than for stage musicals?
It definitely is because I think when you enter a theatre, you’re automatically entering a state of disbelief in terms of like, you sit down and you’re about to watch a performance, and you just automatically buy into whatever is going to happen on stage. So, it’s a lot easier when people start to fly or break into song and dance because you’re there to see and witness a sort of event. With film and TV, you don’t really have that luxury because a lot of the content that we consume on TV and film is not sung or danced.

I think there’s always a challenge in terms of, like, how do we adapt the viewer to understand that this is a piece in which there’s singing and dancing, and how do we get them acquainted very quickly? That’s one of the biggest challenges between stage and film. With stage, you don’t really have that challenge of trying to adjust, whereas with TV and film, you have to prepare the audience a little bit more before they dive in.

What are some future goals you would like to achieve with your career?
I would love to get more into producing theatre, movies, and TV shows. I’m doing a lot of writing, so I would love to step into that arena. I would also love to think about ways to encourage younger people to get engaged with the arts, specifically theatre and musical theater. I am one of a few Black musical theater composers, generally POC musical theater writers, and I’m very passionate about getting more people into that field. I also have ambitions later on in my career with my own music and acting.

Stay up-to-date and connect with Hursey by following him on Twitter and Instagram @khiyon94.

Photos Courtesy of Khat Tuttle and Social Media