Geeky SKAturday: "Orphan Town" from Warriors (concept album)

At this point, I really don't want to miss Geeky SKAturday twice in a row(!), so here's something close enough for this week...

The concept album Warriors, that I mentioned being excited about around a month ago, came out, and it's pretty great.  From Lin-Manuel Miranda (of Hamilton and...a bunch of other stuff) and Eisa Davis (who isn't as well known, but I was still probably a bit of a dick for not even mentioning her in that last writeup), Warriors is a really nice take on the cult film, changing things up enough to make it interesting but hitting enough familiar notes that it pays off to know a bit about the movie.  I had such high hopes for it that it wouldn't have been crazy for it to fall short, but it delivers.  And it's easily accessible, hitting both Spotify and YouTube immediately upon release.

One of my favorite tracks comes when the Warriors encounter the second-rate gang known as the Orphans.  It's a cool scene in the movie, introducing us to Mercy, and the song has a sort of rocksteady rhythm for the verses, transitioning into really catchy choruses.  You could argue that Utkarsh Ambudkar sings the part of head Orphan Sully with a little too much...goofiness...but in the context of the song, with his right-hand man Jesse delivering backup lines like a bully's toady, it didn't take long for Sully's voice to sound natural enough to me.

For reference, here's the analogous scene from the film (cutting off a bit earlier than the song)...

And for gaming, here's the top Orphan in Monstrous6 terms...

Sully

From The Warrors Wiki

Leader, the Orphans

10 HP, 10 Defense

Strength 2
Dexterity 2
Knowledge 4
Presence 4

Skills: Misinformation +4, Streetwise +3, Leadership +2, Straight Razor (Short Blades) +1

Goal: Respect as a bopper

Quote: "I don't know what you're talkin' about, man.  How could this be a big meeting if the Orphans wasn't there?"

Lin-Manuel Miranda's Warriors is coming soon!

[Insert "come out to play" joke here.]

I just found out last week that the insanely talented Lin-Manuel Miranda of Hamilton fame (along with In the Heights and the soundtracks for Moana, Vivo, and Encanto) has a concept album coming out next month (the one that starts tomorrow) based on The Warriors.  I'm pretty stoked.

Check it out HERE

As I mentioned recently, I've become a bit of a Playbill collector over the past few years, and my love of the transcendent musical Hamilton definitely played a role in that development.  And The Warriors...so, I found it relatively late in life, interestingly through learning about its potential influence on beat 'em up video games - specifically Double Dragon and Renegade - that I really liked as a kid.  But now, if you catch me on the right day, I'll probably tell you it's one of my favorite movies ever.  It's just so freaking...I don't know, stylish?  Beautiful?  Slick?  Cool?  I feel like a lot of folks of a certain age and outlook just have to admit, whether or not we think it holds up as quality cinema, that it's just badass.

It looks like Miranda is taking some interesting creative approaches - like casting women for all of the Warriors (plus replacing the Lizzies with some dudes called the Bizzies) and anthropomorphizing the boroughs of NYC by giving them distinct voices (maybe...I'm just guessing based on the cast list).  And the cast itself has some legends.

If you're interested in learning more about this most fortuitous combination of things I really dig, you can check out the album's website HERE.  I assume there will eventually be a stage musical, but either way, this looks awesome.

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And for a nerd touch, here's the film's closest-thing-to-a-hero Swan statted out as I've been putting numbers to characters lately...

Image from HERE

Swan

Warlord, the Warriors

15 HP, 11 Defense

Strength 3
Dexterity 3
Knowledge 2
Presence 4

Skills: Brawling +4, Courage +3, Streetwise +2, Knife +1

Goals: Survive; defend the Warriors

Quote: "When we get there, you stick close by, okay?"