Kelvin Harrison Jr. delves into the musical inspirations of ‘Mufasa’, such as Lin-Manuel Miranda’s ‘Hamilton’

LOS ANGELES — After its nearly 3-month-long run in theaters, “Mufasa: The Lion King” has finally made its way to Disney+!

In celebration of its streaming release, On The Red Carpet sat down with star Kelvin Harrison Jr. for a deep dive into the music.

The soundtrack, written by Lin-Manuel Miranda (“Moana,” “Encanto”), has produced several hit songs, most notably, “I Always Wanted A Brother,” which features the voices of Harrison Jr. as Taka, Aaron Pierre as Mufasa, Theo Somolu as Young Taka, and Braelyn Rankins as Young Mufasa.

When Harrison Jr. started recording his tracks, he told us the studio sent him three songs, with Miranda on the demos!

The star first listened to “We Go Together.” “But it wasn’t fully done,” he said. “It was all Lin singing on the track. ‘I Always Wanted a Brother’ was already Theo and Braelyn on the track already when I got it, so I was really excited about that because it felt like more of the movie! Granted, Lin, what an incredible performance from him,” he laughed. “His ‘Brother Betrayed’ is really where ‘Brother Betrayed’ sits!”

The demos reminded Harrison Jr. of a few hit musicals.

“‘Brother Betrayed’ though, reminded me of ‘Phantom of the Opera’ and that’s why I was like, ‘This is like that moment in the movie.'”

With Miranda on the track, the tunes sounded like a certain notable musical. “It’s so ‘Hamilton’ sometimes. It’s so funny.”

With a rolodex of songs written by one of the most successful songwriters of the century, we asked how Harrison Jr.’s acting choices were impacted by the music.

“What Lin was able to pinpoint with ‘I Always Wanted A Brother’ was really special, because it’s one thing to read the script and you know, that story point, at that moment is that he’s about to accept this outsider into his family, and it’s because of this desire to have community and desire to have somebody who is more like him,” he explained. “But Lin being able to turn it into a musical world and feel the rhythm and the protective nature. It’s some of the lyrics, ‘What did you say about my brother.’ You know what I mean? It’s the- it’s that brotherly bond that’s unbreakable. Um well, at least you think in the moment!”

The music allowed him to understand Taka in a new light.

“It was easier for me to figure out what the tempo of Taka was, and I think in the earlier session when I was performing him, I had a more villainous kind of undertone from the get-go. That song opened it up to sound a little bit brighter and lighter and more optimistic and positive.”

The “Mufasa” tracks have even made their way to karaoke joints in New York City! He dished on singing his own song, “Brother Betrayed,” during a night out.

“I was really looking for ‘I Always Wanted a Brother.’ I didn’t see that one, but ‘Brother Betrayed’ for some reason was on that particular system, and my favorite part was ‘Made famous by Kelvin Harrison Jr.’ I just started dying laughing!”

Sing along to all the songs from “Mufasa: The Lion King,” streaming now on Disney+.

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