Say No to This

According to Slate, the song "began with a quote from LL Cool J's "I Need Love"", but due to clearance issues from Atlantic Records, "the line was removed before the show's transition to Broadway".{{Cite web |url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2015/09/24/hamilton_s_hip_hop_references_all_the_rap_and_r_b_allusions_in_lin_manuel.html |title=All the Hip-Hop References in Hamilton: A Track-by-Track Guide |last=Wickman |first=Forrest |date=24 September 2015 |website=Slate Magazine |publisher=The Slate Group |location=Brooklyn, New York City, New York, United States |publication-place=Washington D.C., United States of America }}

The song outlines Alexander Hamilton's one-year adulterous affair with Maria Reynolds. Hamilton remains in New York City working on passing his plan for the creation of a national bank, his wife leaving to go on vacation upstate without him. While separated from his family, Hamilton is approached by Mrs. Reynolds, who claims her husband has abandoned her and asks Hamilton for financial aid before seducing him. Their adultery continues throughout the summer until Hamilton is contacted via letter by James Reynolds, who uses blackmail to coerce Hamilton to give him money for remaining silent about the affair. The affair and related blackmail later led to the first major political sex scandal in US history.{{cite web|url=http://www.vibe.com/2015/10/hamilton-soundtrack-review/|title=Going H.A.M.: A Track-By-Track Review Of The 'Hamilton' Soundtrack|work=Vibe|date=20 October 2015 }} The song is sung by Alexander Hamilton, Maria Reynolds, James Reynolds, and the show's company.{{cite web|url=https://www.ibdb.com/Production/View/499521#tabs-Songs|title='Hamilton' Songs|work=Internet Broadway Database|access-date=February 20, 2016}}

Vibe described the song as "a '90s slow jam, Usher-style". Screen Fellows deemed it "the best 90s slow jam R. Kelly never wrote".{{cite web|url=http://screenfellows.com/2015/11/hamilton-is-a-modern-american-masterpiece/|title='HAMILTON' Cast Recording Review: An American Masterpiece - FELLOWSHIP OF THE SCREEN|work=FELLOWSHIP OF THE SCREEN|date=2 November 2015 }} Musical director Alex Lacamoire noted that he used the cello to represent the character of Maria, and implements it in a "really snaky and sinister" fashion in this song.{{cite web|url=http://www.vulture.com/2016/01/hamilton-alex-lacamoire-interview.html|title=Nerding Out With Hamilton's Musical Director -- Vulture|work=Vulture|date=13 January 2016 }}

The song includes a quotation from "Nobody Needs to Know", a song from the musical The Last Five Years which Miranda describes as "the ultimate infidelity jam."

The Huffington Post wrote that the song includes "classic dude logic: I was crazy tired, so I had to cheat on my wife".{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elizabeth-logan/i-have-an-opinion-on-ever_b_8223496.html|title=I Have an Opinion on Every Song in "Hamilton"|date=1 October 2015|work=The Huffington Post}} Jezebel said that Maria Reynolds has "chilling, low vibrations" in this song.{{cite web|url=http://themuse.jezebel.com/should-you-listen-to-the-soundtrack-to-hamilton-if-you-1732144669|title=Should You Listen to the Soundtrack to Hamilton If You Have Not Seen Hamilton?|author=Julianne Escobedo Shepherd|work=The Muse|date=21 September 2015 }} Monique Ocampo of Patheos praised the musical for not making Hamilton "Mister Perfect", noting that this song illustrates his "short-sightedness."{{cite web|url=http://www.patheos.com/blogs/moniqueocampowrites/2015/10/14/hamilton-the-musical-an-album-review/?repeat=w3tc|title=Hamilton The Musical: An Album Review|work=Monique Ocampo Writes|date=14 October 2015 }} Adam Gopnik of The New Yorker called the song "beautiful".{{Cite magazine |url=http://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/hamilton-and-the-hip-hop-case-for-progressive-heroism |title="Hamilton" and the Hip-Hop Case for Progressive Heroism |last=Gopnik |first=Adam |date=5 February 2016 |magazine=The New Yorker}}

{{Infobox song

| name = Say Yes to This

| artist = Jill Scott, Leslie Odom Jr., Lin-Manuel Miranda, Sydney James Harcourt, and the cast of Hamilton

| album = The Hamilton Mixtape

| released = 2016

| genre =

• R&B
• soul
• show tune

| length = {{Duration|m=3|s=50}}

| writer = Lin-Manuel Miranda

| producer =

| misc={{External music video|header=Audio|{{YouTube|Jj8FMujbRQU|"Say Yes to This"}}}}}}

A revised version of the song was released on The Hamilton Mixtape in 2016. It was performed by Jill Scott, and tells the story of the Hamilton-Reynolds sex scandal from the perspective of Maria Reynolds, unlike in the original cast recording where Alexander Hamilton recounts the story. It incorporates the same backing vocals and music as the song from the musical.

{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|award=Silver|certyear=2023|title=Say No to This|artist=Cephas-Jones/Odom Jr/Miranda|type=single|access-date=November 26, 2023|relyear=2015|id=19475-6559-1}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|award=Platinum|certyear=2023|title=Say No to This|artist=Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton|type=single|access-date=June 24, 2023|relyear=2015}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|streaming=true|nosales=true|noshipments=true}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• [https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/03/10/magazine/25-songs-that-tell-us-where-music-is-going.html#/the-hamilton-cast-say-no-to-this New York Times Article]

{{Hamilton (musical)|Hamilton}}

{{Jill Scott}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:2015 songs

Category:Songs from Hamilton (musical)

Category:Jill Scott (singer) songs

Category:Songs about infidelity