“Maria Maria” was released on September 14, 1999, to American urban radio and was issued physically worldwide throughout the following year.
“Maria Maria” was written by Wyclef Jean, Jerry “Wonda” Duplessis, Carlos Santana, Karl Perazzo, and Raul Rekow. Jean and Duplessis conceived the song with Carlos Santana while Jean’s previous musical group, Fugees, was on tour in San Francisco.
“Maria Maria” is loosely based on the play West Side Story, where the main character is named “Maria.” In the song, Maria has moved to East LA and become a big Carlos Santana fan. She dreams of making the world a better place, and has won the heart of the singer.
The song incorporates all the hallmarks of a Santana song: silky guitar licks, a love story, and a call for justice and equality. And also, lots of Latin flavor.
The vocals are by an R&B duo called Product G&B. Santana returned the favor in 2001 when he played on the track “Dirty Dancin'” from their first album, Ghetto And Blues. Unfortunately for Product G&B, the album was never released. They were signed to Arista Records (Santana’s label), who decided not to release the album after putting out two singles from it that promptly tanked. Because it cost so much to promote and distribute an album, record companies would cut their losses by refusing to release records that didn’t show promise, and the artists were then forced to distribute them through bootlegs or find another record company to pick it up. The unreleased album contained this song.
The song won the 2000 Grammy for Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal. Santana won eight Grammys that year, including Album of the Year for Supernatural.
“Maria Maria” – Single by Santana featuring the Product G&B from the album Supernatural
Released September 14, 1999
Songwriters Wyclef Jean, Jerry “Wonda” Duplessis, Carlos Santana, Karl Perazzo, Raul Rekow
Producers Wyclef Jean, Jerry “Wonda” Duplessis
Charted No.1 US; No.2 UK; No.1 Sweden; No.1 France; No.6 Belgium
