In the weeks since Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico, celebrities, athletes, artists, and politicians in the diaspora have come out in droves to support the battered island. The reggaeton artist Daddy Yankee pledged a million dollars to relief efforts, and the singer and actress Jennifer Lopez donated another million. The rapper Fat Joe led a donation drive in New York City, in partnership with Governor Andrew Cuomo, and chartered two planes to fly goods to the island. And on Friday, Lin-Manuel Miranda, the Puerto Rican playwright and creator of the hit musical “Hamilton,” released a new song, “Almost Like Praying,” gathering the voices of mostly Puerto Rican stars for a heartfelt tribute to the island. Proceeds from sales of the song will go toward the Hispanic Federation’s Hurricane Relief Fund for Puerto Rico.
The artists featured on “Almost Like Praying” span genres of generations. There are the salsa legends Ruben Blades and Gilberto Santa Rosa; the American rap artists Fat Joe and Joell Ortiz; the pop artists Marc Anthony, Camila Cabello, and Luis Fonsi (fresh off a year of “Despacito” domination); and the actors Rita Moreno, John Leguizamo, and a rapping Gina Rodriguez. The rhythms of the track are made up of sounds familiar to the island: the distinct chirp of the native tree frog known as the coquí, the high-pitched ting of the cowbell, and the sharp notes of the steel drum. A sample from the song “Maria,” from the Puerto Rican-centric musical “West Side Story,” is cut in, too—“Say it soft and it’s almost like praying,” Miranda sings. The rest of the track’s lyrics are mostly a roll call, name checking each and every one of the island’s seventy-eight municipalities, which Puerto Ricans tend to rep with the same fervor as natives of certain boroughs in New York City.
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In an interview with NPR, Miranda said that his intention was to make sure that “no one's town feels forgotten.” At a time when it’s hard for Puerto Ricans not to feel like the entirety of their island is being forgotten by the federal government and by parts of the media, the song rings with pride, and the haste in which it was put together by big-name artists speaks to the efforts of public figures—Puerto Rican and not—using their large following and influence to fill in where officials aren’t.
