A P.F. Chang's fortune cookie had a prediction for Deyra Barrera’s Friday: "Tomorrow will be a very important day for you."

The 49-year-old mariachi singer from Tucson, Arizona, woke up that morning to a text from a friend telling her that Kendrick Lamar had surprise-released *GNX*—and Barrera’s vocals opened the album. She was stunned.

“My skin is covered in goosebumps because all of this happened so quickly for me,” she tells *Rolling Stone*, just moments after Lamar dropped the project.

“I felt your presence here last night,” she sings at the beginning of the album, bringing her ranchera bravado to an operatic choir. “And we start to cryyyy.”

At that point, Barrera had only heard the track “Wacced Out Murals.” During our conversation, she learned that her vocals also appeared on other tracks, including the Tupac tribute “Reincarnated” and the SZA-assisted closer “Gloria.”

“I was in tears, singing for my friend who passed, in front of a packed stadium,” Barrera recalls. “And El Señor Lamar was there. He heard me sing.”

While the Dodgers’ victory in the game and the World Series itself was a major highlight, Barrera believes that the moment was a “blessing” sent by Valenzuela. She and the late baseball star became close friends after meeting at the Tepeyac Café in L.A., where Barrera performed on Sundays. Valenzuela was a fan of her voice.

“I believe in angels,” Barrera says. “And he is an angel for me.”

Just days after the World Series game, Barrera found herself in Lamar’s studio. His team played her the beats for the album and shared the emotional tone Lamar wanted to capture. Armed with a pen and paper, Barrera quickly jotted down a few lines to match Lamar’s vision, though Lamar’s own vocals had yet to be placed on the track.

“I want to cry. This is taking me by surprise,” she says, overwhelmed with emotion.