The music for “Encanto” (2021), “Moana” (2016), “Hamilton” (2015) and “In The Heights” (2005) and (2021) were all written by the one and only, Lin-Manuel Miranda. You must’ve heard of him, I mean, the man is everywhere! Those are just some of his notable works, and now he has something new to add to his already lengthy resume; “Warriors”.
“Warriors” the concept album, originally comes from the book “The Warriors” written by Sol Yurick in 1965 which was later adapted to film in 1979. The book and movie are the complete same; The Warriors, the gang of Coney Island, has been framed for the murder of Cyrus, The Gramercy Riffs, the rival gang’s leader. Thus leading to a turf war between gangs from Coney Island all the way to The Bronx, New York.
On the other hand, Miranda and Eisa Davis made some changes to the original story like making the Warrior gang all women and with that changing the cultures and vibes of each gang the Warriors must face.
Eisa Davis is a playwright and actress. She has done some background character work in various films and TV but seems to be most notably known for working with Miranda on “Warriors”. She has also won various awards, particularly two Obie Awards.
Miranda reached out to Eisa Davis and proposed the idea to collaborate on the concept album in 2022 despite Davis having never seen the movie before. Fast forward to Aug. 2023 Miranda and Davis had been working on the stage adaptation of the book by Yurick. Only about a month ago was the album released on Oct. 18, 2024 with the knowledge that it would be based off the 1979 film.
The album overall was astonishing. Yes the album has an overall hip-hop feel and vibe, but there are a few songs that completely surprised me. Some being “Leave The Bronx Alive”, “Going Down”, “Orphan Town”, “Quiet Girls”, “Sick of Runninn’” and “We Got You”.
“Leave The Bronx Alive”, “We Got You” and “Quiet Girls” are each three different genres; salsa, Boy Band and some hip-hop beats. The way all three have such different vibes and styles is amazing.
“Leave The Bronx Alive” featuring Marc Anthony, the top selling salsa artist of all time, even has Spanish and a reggaeton vibe. I may be biased to liking Anthony’s music because of my childhood, but the catchy lyrics, simple beat and impactful ending is what caught my attention. “We Got You” features Stephen Sanchez and Daniel Jikal with a Korean rap verse.
One of the most entertaining songs is “Quiet Girls” with Billy Porter on the track delivering a drag race type vibe. The song has punchy beats, repetitive lyrics, onomatopoeia, and even insults to the Warriors.
It also delivers the message that for a woman to be heard, she must be loud.
Throughout the song the lyrics, “Quiet girls don’t make it home” was repeated, pointed at the Warriors. Later in the album, Fox sacrifices herself for the gang, she fights the cops so confidently that everyone grows respect for her, even rival gangs.
There are a lot of messages that were addressed in the album such as the troubles of being a woman in a position of power and how men are ignorant to it. Another which I think was so crucial to the plot was loyalty. The Warriors talk so much about loyalty in their songs that it makes losing and adding a person to the gang so much more important.
“A Light Or Something” specifically talks about loyalty, to a person and to a group. This is another favorite, the love story that is introduced and the subtle message of loyalty to a gang mended so perfectly. Not to mention Julia Harriman and Jasmine Cephas-Jones’ captivating vocals. I knew Cephas-Jones could sing like this from her role in “Hamilton”, but hearing Harriman’s solo for the first time was breathtaking.
It’s mind blowing to me that a concept album, only an album with 26 songs, could deliver a story so powerfully. I knew exactly what was going on in each song and could gather details through the lyrics and genre shifts. Miranda and Davis did an amazing job casting, producing and writing this concept album.
The album isn’t just music; it’s a full-blown story that takes you in its world with every track. Miranda and Davis have proven that storytelling through music can be just as impactful, if not more so, than traditional mediums. It’s a masterpiece that sets a new standard for what concept albums can achieve—captivating, memorable and just brilliant.
There hasn’t been confirmation on if this will become a full production, and if it does, it’ll be Miranda’s first full length production since “Hamilton” (2015). To be sure, I’ll be the first to buy tickets.
