Lin-Manuel Miranda drops new single to benefit hurricane relief

Lin-Manuel Miranda has released a new song to benefit hurricane victims in Puerto Rico.

The “Hamilton” creator teamed up with Hispanic artists for the song “Almost like Praying,” which gets its name and main hook from a line in the song “Maria” from the musical “West Side Story.”

Proceeds from the song’s sales will benefit the Hispanic Federation’s Unidos Disaster Relief Fund for hurricane relief efforts in Puerto Rico.

Miranda, who is of Puerto Rican descent, has been vocal about the need to help Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria and last week made headlines after he slammed President Trump for tweets criticizing San Juan’s mayor, and Puerto Ricans more generally. 

You’re going straight to hell, @realDonaldTrump.
No long lines for you.
Someone will say, “Right this way, sir.”
They’ll clear a path. https://t.co/xXfJH0KJmw

— Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) September 30, 2017

The lyrics of the new song are almost exclusively the names of towns in Puerto Rico, a choice Miranda told NPR he made after seeing family members post the names of towns where their families lived on Facebook.

{mosads}“The only lyric that really unites us and that makes the most sense for a fundraising song is if I can somehow write a lyric that includes all 78 towns in Puerto Rico so that no one feels left out and no one’s town feels forgotten,” he told NPR. “Hopefully, these towns never feel forgotten again.”

Among the 23 artists on the track are Gloria Estefan, “Despacito” singer Luis Fonsi, Jennifer Lopez, “Jane the Virgin’s” Gina Rodriguez, Marc Anthony and Rita Moreno, who starred in the original “West Side Story.”