Though he's recently had albums titled Global Warming and Globalization and has an upcoming one called Climate Change, Pitbull has not lately been the most political of rappers. His verses in "Timber" had nothing to do with deforestation, and "Give Me Everything" makes no mention of where he comes down on tax rates. But because he is one of the most famous, if not the most famous, Cuban Americans in the world, it is surprising that, as of press time, Pitbull has made no mention of Fidel Castro's death. Not a Tweet, not a Facebook post, not even a random "Dale!"
His silence is even more surprising because one of the rare times he dipped his toe in political matters, it was to deal with Castro's oppression of the Cuban people. His second and third albums were titled El Mariel and Boatlift. Both records touched on growing up in an exile community but were mostly filled with party songs. More pointed was "Ya Se Acabó" in 2006. The Spanglish song was written a decade ago to commemorate that Fidel Castro transferred rule to his brother Raúl. It was predictive of the celebrations on Calle Ocho last week.
Now that Fidel Castro has officially left the world of the walking, though, it is surprising that there has been no comment from the Miami-born-and-raised Pitbull. Though we expect a lot from our artists, they don't really owe us their opinions. But Pitbull has never been one for subtlety. Like his eponymous breed of canine, he is a kinetic ball of energy, taking the stage aggressively and without pretense. So one has to think that in Mr. 305's first hometown show (even if Hard Rock is officially in the 954 area code) after Castro's death, he would let out a rallying cry for all of his fans and especially those of his shared heritage that now, once and for all, ya se acabó.
Pitbull. 8 p.m. Friday, December 9, at Hard Rock Live, 1 Seminole Way, Hollywood; 954-797-5531; seminolehardrockhollywood.com. Tickets cost $70 to $140 via ticketmaster.com.