Busta Rhymes, Joshua Henry and More Join WARRIORS Album From Lin-Manuel Miranda and Eisa Davis

Lin-Manuel Miranda and Eisa Davis have unveiled the fifth group of voices for the star-studded cast of the concept album, WARRIORS. 

Busta Rhymes joins the cast as the voice of Brooklyn as well as THE BIZZIES: featuring Stephen Sanchez as Cal, Joshua Henry as Wanya, Timothy Hughes as Lance, and Daniel Jikal as Joon. 

The newly announced voices join the already noteworthy cast including: THE COPS featuring James Remar as Barnes and David Patrick Kelly as Victor; THE HURRICANES featuring Billy Porter as Granger, Michaela Jaé as Yaya, and Mykal Kilgore as Élan; THE ORPHANS featuring Utkarsh Ambudkar as Sully and Casey Likes as Jesse; THE TURNBULL AC’S featuring Marc Anthony as Tato, Luis Figueroa as Miguel, and Flaco Navaja as Jesús; THE ROGUES featuring Kim Dracula as Luther and Alex Bonniello as Cropsy; and Shenseea as DJ Lynne Pen. 

Colman Domingo is the voice of the Masai of the Gramercy Riffs while the voices of the boroughs include: Ghostface Killah and RZA as Staten Island; Chris Rivers as The Bronx; Cam’ron as Manhattan; Nas as Queens; and Busta Rhymes as Brooklyn. 

ABOUT WARRIORS:

WARRIORS, the new project from Lin-Manuel Miranda and Eisa Davis, is a concept album inspired by the 1979 Paramount Pictures cult film, “The Warriors,” based on the Sol Yurick novel of the same name. WARRIORS is executive produced by GRAMMY Award winning rapper & New York City native, Nas & produced by GRAMMY Award winning musician Mike Elizondo.

WARRIORS is an immersive listening experience that follows a fictitious New York City gang from Coney Island to the Bronx and back when they are framed for the murder of a respected gang leader, Cyrus.

ABOUT Lin-Manuel Miranda:

Lin-Manuel Miranda is a Pulitzer Prize, Grammy, Emmy, and Tony award-winning songwriter, actor, director and producer. He is the creator and original star of Broadway’s Tony Award-winning musicals, Hamilton and In the Heights. The Original Broadway Cast Recording of Hamilton won the 2016 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album and was the first-ever Broadway cast recording to be certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America. The Hamilton Mixtape, a concept album inspired by the show’s score, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart and received a 2017 MTV VMA Award for the video "Immigrants (We Get the Job Done)." Miranda’s first musical, In the Heights, received the Tony Award for Best Score and took home a 2009 Grammy Award for its Original Broadway Cast Album. The soundtrack from the musical’s film adaptation received a 2022 Grammy nomination. His additional Broadway credits include New York, New York (Additional Lyrics, Tony nomination for Best Musical), Freestyle Love Supreme (Co-Founder, Guest Star, Special Tony Award Recipient), Bring It On: The Musical (co-composer/co-lyricist, Tony nomination for Best Musical), and West Side Story (2009 revival, Spanish translations). 

Miranda wrote eight original songs for Disney’s Academy Award-winning animated feature, Encanto. The Encanto soundtrack spent nine nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart with all eight of Miranda’s songs from the film appearing on the Billboard Hot 100 in the same week. “We Don’t Talk About Bruno'' became the first No. 1 song on Billboard’s Hot 100 to be released by Walt Disney Records. With five weeks at No. 1, “Bruno” now holds the record for most weeks at the top of the charts for any song from a Disney film (animated or live-action). Miranda received a 2022 Oscar nomination for Best Original Song for “Dos Oruguitas.” Encanto won three 2023 Grammys, including two for Miranda. He was named Billboard’s Top Hot 100 Songwriter of 2022. He contributed music and lyrics to Disney’s Moana which earned him a 2017 Oscar nomination and a 2018 Grammy Award for the original song, “How Far I’ll Go.” Miranda is penning the songs for the upcoming film, Mufasa: The Lion King, in theaters December 20, 2024. Charity singles include: “Love Make The World Go Round” with Jennifer Lopez, a tribute to the victims of the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting; “Found/Tonight” with Ben Platt, and composers Benj Pasek & Justin Paul, to support March For Our Lives; and “Almost Like Praying,” benefiting the Hispanic Federation’s UNIDOS Disaster Relief and Recovery Program after Hurricane Maria. He lives with his family in New York City.

ABOUT Eisa Davis:

Eisa Davis is an award-winning performer, writer, musician and composer working on stage and screen. She was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama for her play Bulrusher, and wrote and starred in the stage memoir Angela’s Mixtape, named a best of the year by the New Yorker. Angela’s Mixtape is now published with The History of Light (Barrymore nomination) in a volume from 53rd State Press / TCG. Of her thirteen full-length stage works, highlights include Ramp (Ruby Prize winner), The Essentialisn’t (Creative Capital Award), and Mushroom (Barrymore nomination). Notable collaborations include Cirque du Soleil’s first ice show, Crystal, AFROFEMONONOMY, and the songs for the musical adaptation of Walter Mosley’s Devil In A Blue Dress. Davis has released two albums of original music: Something Else, and Tinctures (with Daniel T. Denver), songs from which were featured on the Showtime series Soul Food.

Davis wrote for both seasons of Spike Lee’s Netflix series She’s Gotta Have It, and produced and wrote for the FX series Justified: City Primeval. As a theatre actor, she has earned an Obie Award for Sustained Excellence, an AUDELCO, three Lucille Lortel nominations, and a Drama League nomination. She is known for her screen roles on Mare of Easttown, Kindred, The Wire, House of Cards, Pose, Ahsoka, The Looming Tower, Hart of Dixie, and as a member of the original Broadway cast of the Tony-winning Passing Strange. She will soon be seen in the films Relay and Ex-Husbands, and on the Netflix series The Madness.

Other awards include the USA Artist Fellowship, the prestigious Herb Alpert Award in Theatre, a playwright residency at New Dramatists, and a multiyear fellowship with Black poetry organization Cave Canem. An advocate and creator of hip hop theatre since its inception, Davis is a Bay Area native and lives in Brooklyn, NY.