Two of the biggest forces in the universe combined on Wednesday to celebrate May the 4th Be With You day and, shockingly, the planet did not explode. Instead, Hamilton? mastermind Lin-Manuel Miranda and Star Wars: The Force Awakens director J. J. Abrams interrupted Miranda’s daily #Ham4Ham sidewalk performance to bust out a rare live version of “Jabba Flow,” the song the pair composed for the cantina scene in Force Awakens.
They sang it in Jabba the Hutt’s language, Huttese, of course. “I had the good pleasure of getting to contribute a song on the latest Star Wars movie. I co-wrote it with someone who is incredible and he is not known as a composer and performer, but he is one and is making his Broadway singing debut on these steps today,” Miranda told the enthusiastic crowd outside the Richard Rogers theater by way of introducing Abrams.
J.J. Abrams Recruits ‘Hamilton’ Creator Lin-Manuel Miranda for New ‘Star Wars’ Cantina Scene
The director explained that he went to see Hamilton a year ago and during intermission, as a joke, Miranda mentioned that if he needed any music for the cantina scene, he was the guy. “And I said, ‘you’re not going to believe this, I need music for the cantina scene,'” Abrams said. Miranda then translated the lyrics, explaining that they mean, “No, lover, lover, it wasn’t me,” which he joked made it a “Shaggy intergalactic remix.”
Check out the performance:
The song is available for purchase from the iTunes store now, and for streaming on the official Star Wars site.