Y yo soy cubano, and I’m impatient

Abstract

Abstract This article examines Cuban-American rapper Pitbull’s use of Spanish in his seven English albums, drawing from the literature on lyrical code-switching and Sarkar and Winer’s (2006) socio-pragmatic framework for the analysis of multilingual code-switching in Quebec rap. It was found that Pitbull’s highest rates of Spanish language use appear in songs with hegemonic masculinity as main topic, and that Spanish switches are used mostly for emphasis/translation, and for enacting a hypersexual, hypermasculine identity consistent with rap and reggaeton expectations of masculinity. Pitbull’s use of Spanish legitimizes Latinos’ code-switching practices and allows him to articulate a bilingual/bicultural Latino rapper identity, but also perpetuates stereotypes that link Spanish and Spanish-speaking men to sex and sexuality.