Watch Lin-Manuel Miranda Freestyle Rap About Disney Animated Classics
Lin-Manuel Miranda is singlehandedly bridging the gap between Disney and hip-hop. The In the Heights and Hamilton librettist-lyricist-composer-actor-rapper wrote and performed songs on the soundtrack of the Mouse House’s new tentpole release, Moana, about a Polynesian teenager who sets off on a seafaring quest to save her island from a curse. Next Miranda will star opposite Emily Blunt in the sequel-to-a-classic Mary Poppins Returns, and he has a live-action Little Mermaid movie as well as another secret Disney project in the pipeline. And he also composed a little ditty for last year’s Disney-released blockbuster Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Related: Dwayne Johnson and Lin-Manuel Miranda Duet on the ‘Moana’ Red Carpet
At the Los Angeles press day for Moana, we thought it only fitting to present Miranda with a Disney Freestyle Challenge. He accepted, but only if we provided the beatbox backdrop — which we did, because we’re not above embarrassing ourselves for hip-hop or Disney.
Watch above as the quick-witted MC Miranda drops rhymes about Frozen, Tangled, The Lion King, Fantasia, and more. And just try to pretend the beatboxing is passable.
Moana opens Nov. 23.
