Pitbull
AP
Stick your tongue out if you were ranked by Billboard as the 45th top artist of the 2010s!

As much as the news media serves to inform the public, we're also here to give you something to talk about. Learning about the world around us provides the connective tissue for spirited interactions and growing deeper bonds with each other.

What are you going to bring up at the dinner table to get the conversation flowing? Did you read that article everybody has been talking about, too?

Who is it? *Cue "The Twilight Zone" theme music* Imagine, if you will, a room full of people, all wearing bald caps and fake goatees, thrashing joyfully to some of the biggest hits of the past 20 years with a cacophony of catchphrases like "MR. WORLDWIDE" and "DALE!" echoing throughout the room.

Well dear reader, you don't need to imagine. Because the age of peak Pitbull mimicry, is apparently here.

@shey.d.a humbling experience #fyp #pitbull #pitbulltour #mr305 #mrworldwide @Shahla.lalala @Pitbull ♬ Escribe Revverso en el buscador y sigueme - Urban Music Letras
@sarahruth87 Bald caps everywhere! #pitbull #concert #baldhead #bald ♬ Fireball (feat. John Ryan) - Pitbull

What's going on? Pitbullmania, for lack of a better word.

Fans attending the Cuban-American rapper's Party After Dark European tour have been paying tribute to his signature look by donning bald caps and fake goatees in throngs. It's part costume party and part homage.

@pitbull Shoutout to all the fans out there that keep showing love… daleeee 🌎 #baldies #mrworldwide ♬ original sound - Pitbull

What are people saying? Here's what Pitbull had to say to the crowd in a viral TikTok from February:

"I wanna say a special thank you to everybody that came out with bald caps here tonight. I appreciate y'all. It is amazing to see, it's amazing to feel, and I hope when y'all put on those bald caps, you feel just like I do. Having a good motherf****** time every day of my LIFE!"

Bald cap concert attendees in another video from the BBC shared that for them, the environment of the show felt safe and welcoming. Others said that bald cap even made them feel "sexy."

There's also something to be said for the rapper's relentless positivity and inspirational messages. Wouldn't seeing this live make you feel better about yourself?

@whatnicolebakes Who needs therapy when you’ve got @Pitbull ❤️ #whatnicolebakes #pitbull #pitbullquote #pitbullconcert ♬ original sound - David.OTP

So, what now? Dozens of videos portraying the joyful trend have gone viral on TikTok, with the tour continuing its planned dates in Belgium, Germany and Scandinavia.

And the singer himself has gone beyond just embracing the movement; he's dubbed this new legion of fans the "Bald-ies" because they "soar like bald eagles."

DALE!!!!!!

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