Hurricane Maria has done significant and devastating damage to the beautiful island of Puerto Rico and tens of thousands of people have been left without power, food, water and the basic necessities of life.

Hamilton star and playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda has been very open with his criticism of the United States government and their perceived slow response to helping those in need.

To do his part, he teamed up with some of the biggest Latin artists including, Jennifer Lopez, Camila Cabello, Marc Anthony, Gloria Estefan, Luis Fonsi, Fat Joe and more for a benefit song called, ‘Almost Like Praying’. The song’s proceeds will go towards the Hispanic Federation’s UNIDOS Disaster Relief Fund (click HERE to donate).

Lin-Manuel spoke to Rolling Stone about the benefit song saying,

“You know how we always tell artists ‘stay in your lane’ anytime they say something remotely political? I’m trying to use what I do in service of this challenge…We’re facing a humanitarian crisis right now. And the response from our federal government is not commensurate with the previous two hurricanes, much less up to the unprecedented danger of this disaster itself.”

How did he come up with the song’s name?

He said, “I knew the name Maria was forever going to have a destructive connotation to this island…It’s also the name of my favorite song from West Side Story. So my brain was already looking for a sample to flip … And that’s what we do in hip-hop, right? We take a sample, we flip it and change the meaning. And so the hook of the song is, ‘Say it soft, and it’s almost like praying.'”

This isn’t the first song where proceeds are being raised for Puerto Rico hurricane relief as Beyonce teamed up with J. Balvin, and Willy William on the remix to ‘Mi Gente’.

 

 

Filed under: Camila Cabello, Hurricane Maria, Jennifer Lopez, Lin-Manuel Miranda, marc anthony, puerto rico