"Jabba Flow" is a song written and composed by Lin-Manuel Miranda and performed by Miranda and J. J. Abrams for the 2015 Lucasfilm film, Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Sung entirely in the fictional Huttese language, the song's hook roughly translates to "no, lover, lover, it wasn't me," according to composer Miranda, who joked that the song is "literally a Shaggy intergalactic remix." In The Force Awakens, the song is heard being performed in Maz Kanata's castle on Takodana as protagonists Han Solo, Rey, and Finn arrive.
Lyrics
(oh Jabba)
(oh Jabba)
nobata tu tu muuni muuni
nobata tu tu muuni muuni
(oh Jabba)
nobata tu tu muuni muuni
nobata tu tu muuni muuni
bu du neeg
(pato kateeg ateh)
a'chika bu du neeg
(bota teeg)
(oh Jabba)
bu du neeg
(pato kateeg ateh)
a'chika bu du neeg
(a'bo da teeg)
(oh Jabba)
o'ba cho mei a'mei chi
(a'Jabba a'muuni muuni)
lei nee cha
(la ta a'muuni muuni)
(oh Jabba)
(oh tooney)
(oh tooney)
(oh Jabba)
(oh tooney)
(pato kateeg)
tay'la dee la'seena
(oh Jabba)
(oh Jabba)
nobata tu tu muuni muuni
nobata tu tu muuni muuni
bu du neeg
(pato kateeg ateh)
a'chika bu du neeg
(a'bo da teeg)
(oh Jabba)
(nobata tu tu muuni muuni)
(nobata tu tu muuni muuni)
(nobata tu tu muuni muuni)
(nobata tu tu muuni muuni)
(oh Jabba)
tay'la dee la'seena
(oh Jabba)
Background
Miranda was approached by Abrams during an intermission of Miranda's Broadway musical, Hamilton, wherein Miranda jokingly suggested he would write the cantina music for The Force Awakens, if needed. Coincidentally, longtime Star Wars composer John Williams had recently asked Abrams to find a composer for the music to be played during the film's scenes set at Maz Kanata's castle. Abrams would accept Miranda's suggestion, and Miranda was brought onto the project to compose the music for the film's sequence.
Miranda and Abrams would go on to perform the song live as part of #Ham4Ham, a free pre-show provided to hopeful audience members queueing for the Hamilton ticket lottery outside of the Richard Rodgers Theatre in New York City, on May 4, 2016, as part of Star Wars Day. That day, the then-unreleased song was released as a single on digital and streaming music services.