Produced by Loony Toons, the now-global reggaeton anthem starts with a frenzied, galloping b-line that explodes into Yankee’s passionate rapping and roughneck crowd calls. “Gasolina” is the jump-up track currently taking Yankee’s career to another level. He says when he grows up he wants to be like Daddy Yankee.” I tell him the man that sings it was a boy like him from these projects. “He sings along to ‘Gasolina’ when it comes on the radio. “If you holla at me with respect, I’m gonna give you back respect.” A 30-something mami steps forward. “The Yankee you see on the TV is the Yankee you see on the street,” he explains sincerely. Friends of all ages lean out of trucks to holler “Yankee! Que pasa?” He’s had a whirlwind of a day, but everyone gets a warm handshake, friendly verbal exchange, and a 100-watt smile. Homeboys with immaculate cornrows cruise past, nodding appreciatively from beat-up Chevys. Shoeless kids with long limbs and Bambi eyes zip across the streets staring coyly. Boricuas–the term used by Puerto Ricans to describe their Taino Indian heritage–peer at him from behind brightly painted iron grills. Daddy Yankee stands in front of a weathered three-story block in the Villa Kennedy area of San Juan, inside the government housing project where he spent his teenage years.

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