Everyone's favourite musical theatre geek, Lin-Manuel Miranda, has collaborated with actor-rapper-generally-gorgeous-person Riz Ahmed on a new single: "Immigrants (We Get the Job Done)". The dynamic duo describe the song as a "musical counterweight" to the tense discourse that has surrounded America's immigration policy as of late.

The song's music video gives audience's a pointed reminder of the harsh realities immigrants face on a daily basis. Being stuffed into camps, riding crowded trains, working various menial, and labour-intensive jobs like fruit-picking and sewing in sweatshops are all very real parts of the immigrant experience.

Miranda, who is the son of Puerto Rican immigrants himself, says the single was intended as a direct response to President Trump's attempts at enacting a 'travel ban' (or as many interpreted it, a Muslim ban.)

"This election cycle has brought xenophobia and vilification of immigrants back to the forefront of US politics. This is a musical counterweight." Miranda wrote in a commentary on the music community website Genius.com.

The song features both English and Spanish lyrics, culminating in a rousing chourus: "Look how far I come, Immigrants, we get the job done."

That just about says it all, don't you think?

by Imaiya Ravichandran