René Pérez definitely has the hook-up for “Hamilton” tickets.
The former vocalist for Calle 13, best known as Residente, hasn’t shied away from showing his love for his third cousin Lin-Manuel Miranda on Instagram. But there was a time when Pérez didn’t know he was related to the creator of “Hamilton” at all.
The Puerto Rican artist appeared on “The Daily Show” Wednesday night to discuss his new album with host Trevor Noah. Towards the end of the interview, the host said he was shocked to find out Pérez and Miranda were cousins.
Pérez then explained how he found out he was related to Miranda long after meeting him.
“I met him way before ‘Hamilton,’ when he was doing ‘In The Heights’ like nine years ago,” he said. “My grandma, she use to tell me all the time ‘Oh, you have your cousin in New York and you don’t know about him.’ And then when he started to write ‘In The Heights’ we met in Puerto Rico.”
That’s when Pérez says his mother saw Miranda’s face and revealed the two artists were actually family. Both of the artists were equally surprised.
“It’s not every day you find out you’re related to one of the most famous rappers in the world,” Miranda told the New York Times in January.
During his interview with Noah, the former Calle 13 frontman also recalled the moment Miranda first told him the idea of creating a musical based on the life of Alexander Hamilton.
And Pérez is certainly a fan of his third cousin, in the past he’s raved about Miranda’s rapping skills on Instagram.
“Here with my cousin Lin Manuel, the best rapper in the family,” he wrote in a caption on July 2016.
Greatness definitely runs in the family.
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