United States Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg has a very beatboxable name.

I first became acquainted with Pete Buttigieg at that point in early 2019 when the entire United States of America became acquainted with Pete Buttigieg, namely, his entry into the crowded field of 2020 Democratic presidential candidates. The salient facts of Peter Paul Montgomery Buttigieg were that (1) he was the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, (2) people Jimmy Kimmel interviewed on the street couldn’t pronounce his name, (3) he went by “Mayor Pete” instead, (4) he was gay, and (5) he was very young, at 37, a Millennial. Each of these facets of his character received some press coverage.

Curiously missing from the Pete Buttigieg discussion? The sheer beatboxability of his name. Mr. Buttigieg may not have stood out from the pack as a prime candidate to replace Donald Trump in the Oval Office, but as a candidate to replace “boots and cats and” as the beginner’s beatboxing phrase, he is unparalleled.

Listen to his name. Pete Buttigieg. Speak it aloud, and hear the music. You’ve got the kick-drum P and B falling squarely on-beat, two on the floor. You’ve got the closed hi-hat t’s accenting the off-beats, the muffled open hi-hat soft g’s rounding out the beat, a pickup to the next bar. Repeat indefinitely, with your hands cupped over your mouth. You’ve got a pounding old-school disco groove.

Pete Buttigieg, Pete Buttigieg, Pete Buttigieg, Pete Buttigieg—

Imagine. A county fair in Iowa, July 2019. Mayor Pete stands triumphant on a wooden platform, red-white-and-blue hanging from the scaffolding, campaign posters flanking the stage. He hushes the din of the crowd with a simple wave. With another conducting gesture he starts the crowd beatboxing all at once: Pete Buttigieg, Pete Buttigieg, Pete Buttigieg, Pete Buttigieg.

Booming plosives, trappy skittering hats, settling into an intoxicating groove. And then the man himself opens his mouth:

Yo! I’m Mayor Pete,

And I got you beat!

Bringin’ out the heat

From the South Bend streets—