Lin-Manuel Miranda and Eisa Davis will release a concept album for their new musical “Warriors.” The album, which features music and lyrics co-written by Miranda and Davis, will drop on Oct. 18 from Atlantic Records. The 26-track record is executive produced by Grammy Award-winning rapper Nas and produced by Grammy-winning songwriter Mike Elizondo.
“Warriors” follows a New York City street gang who is mistakenly accused of killing a respected gang leader. Based on the 1979 Paramount Pictures film and Sol Yurick’s 1965 novel of the same name, the action spans from Coney Island to the Bronx.
There are no plans for a stage production at this time; the focus remains on the album.
Miranda has twice won the Best Original Score Tony Award, first in 2008 for “In the Heights” and again in 2016 for “Hamilton,” the latter of which also earned him a statue for Best Book of a Musical and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Miranda performed in both, earning Best Actor nods for both productions. He shares a Special Tony Award for producing 2019’s “Freestyle Love Supreme.” He scored the animated films “Moana” and “Encanto,” which garnered him Academy Award nominations for Best Original Song.
As a performer, Davis made her Broadway debut as in 2008’s “Passing Strange,” only a few days after Miranda’s inaugural Main Stem performance in “In the Heights.” As a writer, Davis is a Pulitzer finalist for the play “Bulrusher,” and penned and starred in the solo piece “Angela’s Mixtape.” As a songwriter, Davis has released two albums, “Something Else” and “Tinctures.”
“We’ve spent the past three years musicalizing the ‘Warriors’’ journey home, from the South Bronx to Coney Island,” said Miranda and Davis in a joint statement. “Along the way, we’ve gotten to work with a lot of our favorite artists, and we’ll be announcing their roles on the album in the weeks ahead. We can’t wait to share these songs with you.”
