Ask Random Pixels

Today we dip into the Random Pixels mailbag to find out what you're thinking about. This week we received a lot of e-mails like this:

Yo RP dude!

Do you know when Daddy Yankee is going to endorse John McCain?

I think they are both so chill!

Peace out!
Curious on Calle Ocho

Thanks for your e-mail "Curious." Before today I had no idea who Daddy Yankee was but as luck would have it Daddy Yankee announced today that he is endorsing John McCain.

Your e-mail and today's news piqued my curiosity about Daddy Yankee.

I hit Google and learned that he's a "reggaeton" star and that he recorded the song "Gasolina."

That provided a little more context. McCain was being endorsed by a singer who would give credence to his energy policies.

But I wanted to know more. I e-mailed my friend Eliott Rodriguez at Channel 4 News who is a big reggaeton fan and asked him if he could tell me anything about Daddy Yankee.

He wrote back: "He’s huge with Hispanic teenage girls."

That told me a little more but I was still intrigued by the fact that McCain would turn to a Puerto Rican hip-hop star to endorse his candidacy and his energy policies.

Perhaps there was some sort of hidden meaning in the lyrics of "Gasolina."

Maybe the august Wall Street Journal would have an answer. Without too much trouble I found this dispatch on the Journal's Washington Wire blog by reporter Elizabeth Holmes.

Holmes's blog post contained this cryptic paragraph about the song:

"Many in the press corps joked about the intersection of the song (with its lyrics, when translated into English, are: “She likes gasoline,” he says. “Give me more gasoline!” a woman responds) and McCain’s energy policy. In fact, Washington Wire is told the phrase has nothing to do with the traditional meaning of gasoline."

What exactly was the press joking about? I was left with more questions than answers.

It was time to call my friend Elizannette, a 26 year-old Dominicana. If anyone would know, she would.

"Oh, yeah, Daddy Yankee! He's a reggaeton singer," she said, beautifully rolling the "r" in reggaeton.

She also told me that she's not a big reggaeton fan but added: "I'll dance to it if I have to."

But I pressed on: "What is the song 'Gasolina' about?"

"Well," she answered "it's about, you know...."

"No, I don't know."

A little embarrassed she continued: "Let's just put it this way; he's not singing about fossil fuels or offshore drilling."

Ohhhhhh OK, now I get it.

But does McCain?