Lin-Manuel Miranda & Eisa Davis Implore Hip-Hop To Reexamine Classic Movie “The Warriors”

The cult classic The Warriors has long been a staple in Hip-Hop and continues to captivate audiences decades after its 1979 release. Now, Lin-Manuel Miranda, renowned creator of the play Hamilton, recently shared how the film inspired his latest.

The musical project, a creative journey, with playwright/creative Eisa Davis and acclaimed producer Mike Elizondo is currently available on all streaming services. The opus features Lauryn Hill, Busta Rhymes, Marc Anthony, Billy Porter, Ghostface Killah, RZA and Colman Domingo, among others.

In an exclusive conversation, Miranda told AllHipHop that The Warriors is his “most-watched movie.”

“I gasp every time an MC references it,” he said. “So from ODB [Ol Dirty Bastard] to Common to the new LL COOL J album opening track, ‘Spirit of Cyrus.’ And I think part of the power of the movie and its hold on Hip-Hop and the culture is that it doesn’t judge its characters.”

The Warriors tells the story of a small gang from Coney Island fighting their way back home through the gritty landscape of 1970s New York City. The gang was framed for the murder of Cyrus, the unifying leader of the city’s colorful gangs.

“[Music] just puts us in the situation,” Miranda explained. “Every gang in New York is going to the Bronx with the promise of peace. That promise is shattered, the Warriors are blamed, and we just got to get back home. The story is very universal, beautiful, clear story.”

Davis, a celebrated playwright and actress, stepped in to create a “musical love letter” instead of a traditional stage production.

“Action movies and musicals are always fighting for the same real estate,” Miranda said. “In an action movie, when you can’t talk anymore, you fight. In a musical, when you can’t talk anymore, you sing.”

Mike Elizondo, whose credits include collaborations with Dr. Dre, Eminem and 50 Cent, infused the album with a diverse musical palette.

Eisa Davis said, “He’s someone who, like us, has a very widespread appreciation of music. He loves every single genre that there is as we do. And we got to put pretty much all of those on the album, and we got to work with him in his studio outside of Nashville with a band to just really make the sound something that we thought, maybe someone will sample this someday. It was just really exciting.”

Miranda, Davis and Elizondo bring fresh energy to The Warriors, ensuring its legacy endures in yet another form.