Pitbull (rapper)
Armando Christian Pérez (born January 15, 1981), known professionally as Pitbull, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, businessman, and actor. He began his career in the early 2000s and recorded reggaeton, Latin hip hop, and crunk music under a multitude of labels. He signed with TVT Records to release his debut studio album, M.I.A.M.I. (2004), which was executive produced by Lil Jon. It moderately entered the Billboard 200, along with his second and third albums, El Mariel (2006) and The Boatlift (2007).[4] His fourth album, Pitbull Starring in Rebelution (2009) was supported by the singles "I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)" and "Hotel Room Service", both of which yielded his mainstream breakthrough and peaked at numbers two and eight on the US Billboard Hot 100, respectively.
This article is about the musician. For other uses, see Pitbull (disambiguation).
Pitbull
- Mr. 305
- Mr. Worldwide
- Rapper
- singer
- songwriter
- businessman
- actor
2000–present
After rebranding himself as a pop artist, Pitbull's sixth and seventh albums, Planet Pit (2011) and Global Warming (2012) achieved further commercial success; the former spawned his first Billboard Hot 100-number one single "Give Me Everything" (featuring Ne-Yo, Afrojack and Nayer), while the latter spawned the top ten hit "Feel This Moment" (featuring Christina Aguilera).[5] His 2013 single, "Timber" (featuring Kesha) became his second song to peak the chart, and did so in 18 other countries. His 2014 single, "Time of Our Lives" (with Ne-Yo) peaked within the chart's top ten and led his eighth album, Globalization (2014). That same year, he performed the song "We Are One (Ole Ola)" (with Jennifer Lopez and Claudia Leitte), which served as the official theme of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Meanwhile, Pitbull made numerous guest appearances on a number of hit songs, including the Billboard Hot 100-top four singles "I Like It" by Enrique Iglesias, "DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love" by Usher, and "On the Floor" by Jennifer Lopez.
His subsequent albums, Dale (2015) and Climate Change (2017) trailed commercially. His eleventh album and first independent release, Libertad 548 (2019) focused on Latin hip hop and was led by the singles "No Lo Trates" (with Daddy Yankee and Natti Natasha) and "Me Quedaré Contigo" (featuring Ne-Yo). His twelfth album, Trackhouse (2023) delved further into Latin influences.
Pitbull has sold over 25 million studio albums and over 100 million singles worldwide. He has over 15 billion views on YouTube as of May 2020.[6] He was ranked by Billboard as the 45th Top Artist of the 2010s and the 24th Top Latin Artist of the 2010s.[7][8] Pitbull's other ventures include brand ambassadorship and for various entities, activism and philanthropy in Latino American communities, a radio station—Pitbull's Globalization—on Sirius XM Radio, and ownership of the Trackhouse Racing NASCAR team.[9] As of May 2019, Pitbull has won 35 Billboard Latin Music Awards.[10][11]
Career
2001–2003: Luke Records and TVT Records
In 2001, Pitbull was signed to Luther Campbell's Luke Records by Jullian Boothe, then the label's vice-president of A&R.[21] In 2001, Pitbull was introduced to Robert Fernandez of Famous Artist Music & Management, an independent label and management company specializing in developing artists, by the Diaz Brothers, a producer duo signed to the company. Fernandez "saw the eagerness and hunger he had" and, with the Luke Records deal ending, began working to develop Pitbull. Together they focused on creating a more radio-friendly sound. Fernandez later told HitQuarters: "At that time his music had a lot of verses and took a long time to get into the hook, and so we took time in getting the songs catchier and less on the rap side."
Fernandez introduced Pitbull to Lil Jon, hoping to secure the rapper a small guest intro spot on Lil Jon's upcoming album Kings of Crunk. According to Fernandez, Jon took a liking to Pérez and offered him a track on the album; it is called "Pitbull's Cuban Ride Out". This track helped raise the young rapper's profile.[22]
2004–2005: M.I.A.M.I.
In 2004, Pitbull released his debut album M.I.A.M.I., with the lead single being "Culo" produced by Lil Jon and the Diaz Brothers. It peaked at No. 32 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and No. 11 on the Hot Rap Tracks chart. Other singles included "Dammit Man", "Back Up", "Toma", and "That's Nasty" (both featuring Lil Jon). He joined the Anger Management Tour, the 2000 hip-hop concert tour headlined by Eminem and 50 Cent.[23] Pitbull also appeared on the Ying Yang Twins' single "Shake", which peaked at No.41 on the Hot 100 and No.12 on the rap chart, Adassa's chart topping single "Kamasutra" & Twista's "Hit the Floor" (#94 Hot 100, No. 20 Rap). Remix album Money Is Still a Major Issue was released in November 2005; it included new track "Everybody Get Up", a duet with hip-hop/R&B group Pretty Ricky.
TVT Records, Pitbull's label at the time, and Slip-n-Slide Records disputed over the release of Welcome to the 305, an unreleased album by Slip-n-Slide that Pitbull recorded in 2001.[24] A Miami judge ruled that Slip-n-Slide had a legal right to release the album as it was recorded when Pitbull was a Slip-N-Slide artist, and prior to him signing with TVT Records.[25] A US District Court judge affirmed the decision further.[26] TVT was then ordered in March 2007 to pay Slip-n-Slide $9.1 million for attempting to block the album's release to record stores and digital download entities.[27]
In 2005, Pitbull and rapper Sean 'Diddy' Combs co-founded Bad Boy Latino, a subsidiary of Combs' Bad Boy Records label. It primarily focuses on Latin hip hop, Latin soul, Latin pop and other tropical music and has offices in New York and Miami, Florida.[28][29] Along with co-founding it, Pérez currently heads the A&R division of the label.[30][31][32]
2006–2007: El Mariel and The Boatlift
In January 2006, Pitbull guest-starred in UPN's South Beach. Pitbull recorded "Nuestro Himno" in collaboration with Wyclef Jean, Carlos Ponce, and Olga Tañón.[33] On Listennn... the Album, the debut album by Terror Squad member and Miami radio personality DJ Khaled, Pitbull performed on three singles: "Holla at Me" and "Born-N-Raised" alongside other Southern-based rappers.
He dedicated the album to his father, who died in May that year.[34] Along with the usual party-oriented tracks, Pitbull also included politically themed tracks in El Mariel.[35] The album was released on October 31, 2006, and included singles "Bojangles", "Ay Chico (Lengua Afuera)", "Fuego", and duet with Puerto Rican singer Ken-Y, "Dime (Remix)". El Mariel topped the Billboard independent albums chart[36] and peaked at No. 17 on the Billboard 200 and No. 2 on the rap chart.
Pitbull's third album, titled The Boatlift, was released on November 27, 2007, spawned by the single "Secret Admirer" featuring Lloyd on the chorus. Earlier, Pitbull announced that this album would have a more gangsta rap edge than his earlier albums.[37] Subsequent singles included "Go Girl" featuring Trina, and "The Anthem" featuring and produced Lil Jon, that song sampling the hook from the song "El Africano" by Wilfrido Vargas and the beat from the song "Calabria" by Rune RK. "Go Girl" peaked at No. 80 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 36 on the Hot Rap Tracks chart; "The Anthem" No. 36 on the Hot 100 and No.11 on the Hot Rap Tracks.
His variety show, Pitbull's La Esquina, debuted May 2007 and ran through 2009 on the mun2 cable network.[38][39][40]
Pitbull also appeared on DJ Laz' "Move Shake Drop" and DJ Felli Fel's "Feel It".
Product endorsements
In 2010, Pitbull took part in the "So Kodak" campaign for the Kodak brand[90][91] with Drake, Rihanna, and Trey Songz. He also launched a partnership with the soft drink giant Dr Pepper[92] as part of the campaign "Vida 23" for which he recorded a song that featured on his album Armando. Pitbull also announced he has become the spokesperson for Voli Vodka,[93] in which he holds a majority equity stake,[94] and Budweiser has chosen Pitbull to promote its Bud Light line of beer. The commercials currently highlight Pitbull dancing and gyrating on stage holding up a bottle of Bud Light. Pitbull has also purchased an equity stake in Miami Subs Pizza and Grill.[95][96]
In 2012, Pitbull was involved in an advertising campaign with Walmart, in which the Walmart store that received the most Facebook "likes" from June 18 to July 15, 2012, would have Pitbull visit and put on a show there. An orchestrated campaign entitled "#exilepitbull" started by The Boston Phoenix reporter David Thorpe[97] and SomethingAwful.com writer Jon Hendren urged people to vote for a remote location, namely Kodiak, Alaska.[98] In an email to the Associated Press, Walmart confirmed that Kodiak was the winning location.[99] Pitbull visited Kodiak on July 30, where he received a key to the city from Mayor Patricia Branson and performed. David Thorpe, who had started the "#exilepitbull" campaign, was invited to attend and showed up.[100][101]
In November 2013, he started a fragrance with Jacavi Worldwide and Parlux Ltd.[102]
On May 19, 2015, Pitbull launched a new radio channel on Sirius XM Radio, called Pitbull's Globalization Radio, which is centered around Rhythmic, Dance/EDM, and R&B/Hip-Hop product from artists from around the world.[103][104] The artist celebrated the channel's debut with a private concert at New York City's Apollo Theater. In addition to launching his customized radio station, Pitbull also plans to launch a pair of projects with Endemol for digital television.[105]
In 2019, Pitbull joined Boost Mobile to create a series of advertisements to expand Boost Mobile to Spanish communities. The promotional single "Winning" featuring Yomil y El Dany from Pitbull's 2019 album "Libertad 548" was used in the Boost Mobile "Dale Más" advertising campaign that has been actively rolling out advertisements starring Pitbull and his backup dance group The Most Bad Ones. The song "Get Ready" by Pitbull featuring Blake Shelton was later added to the advertising campaign, also from the Pitbull album Libertad 548.[80]
On February 2, 2020, Pitbull was featured in a Super Bowl commercial for Super Bowl LIV, alongside Jennifer Lopez, DJ Khaled, Alex Rodriguez, and Steven Van Zandt. The commercial was produced to promote Hard Rock and its affiliations; the commercial premiered during the 2nd quarter of Super Bowl LIV.[106] The commercial showcases the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, which is also where the music video for "Get Ready" by Pitbull featuring Blake Shelton was filmed. The music video was released on February 10, 2020.[107]
Controversies
Pitbull has been criticized for the way women are depicted in some of his music.[108] For example, song lyrics such as "She say she won't, but I bet she will," and "I like that when you fight back" have attracted discussion about whether or not they could be contributing to the "legitimization" of rape.[109][110] Campaign described him as an artist "whose lyrics are routinely labeled sexist";[111] Complex similarly noted that "many view Pitbull as sexist."[112]
Pitbull's song "We Are One (Ole Ola)" (featuring Jennifer Lopez and Claudia Leitte), which served as the official FIFA World Cup 2014 song, drew some controversy for not being a good enough representation of Brazil, which was the host country of the World Cup that year. Critics condemned the song's lyrical content for being filled with cliches about Brazilian culture, as well as for not containing enough lyrics in Portuguese. Others called it a "bad, boring, replaceable pop song."[113]
In December 2019, Cuban music duo Gente de Zona were banned from performing at a New Year's Eve concert in Miami alongside Pitbull due to their support of the Cuban government.[114] During the concert, Pitbull voiced his support for the duo amid the ban, stating that "music is music, politics is politics." He received immediate backlash for the comments, including from fellow Cuban musicians, such as Albita Rodríguez and Arturo Sandoval, and the Miami community. He later apologized, acknowledged he "screwed up," and claimed he was not fully aware of the extent of Gente de Zona's controversial political stances.[115]
In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Pitbull made an appearance in a podcast episode where he claimed the pandemic was a conspiracy, called it a "scamdemic, plandemic," and spread false claims about the origins of it. A shorter clip of the podcast episode started going viral in early 2021, as social media users shared it hundreds of thousands of times.[116] He received backlash for spreading misinformation about COVID-19, and was labeled a "conspiracy theorist" by some.[117]
Impact and activism
Determined to help the Latino community in his hometown, Pitbull's social impact focus for the last decade has been closing the poverty gap through educational initiatives. He helped start a Tuition-Free Public charter for middle and high school called Sports Leadership and Management (SLAM!), which opened in 2013 in Miami's Little Havana, the neighborhood where Pitbull grew up. SLAM! now operates nationwide, including in Miami, Las Vegas and Atlanta, with a 96 percent graduation rate. The school will be run by the non-profit Mater Academy.[121]
In response to the destruction caused by Hurricane Maria, Pitbull announced he will use his private plane to bring cancer patients from Puerto Rico to the mainland United States for treatment.[122]
On April 13, 2020, Pitbull released a single titled "I Believe That We Will Win (World Anthem)" (which samples the "I believe that we will win!" chant) during the COVID-19 pandemic. The song aims to inspire those affected by the COVID-19 outbreak to "face everything and rise". An accompanying music video was released on May 7, 2020, on YouTube,[123] and made its television debut on MTV.[124] Pitbull is donating all proceeds from song sales, streaming and views to Feeding America and the Anthony Robbins Foundation.[125]
Pitbull is a vocal critic of communism and the Cuban government, having called on world leaders to support the 2021 protests against the Communist Party of Cuba.[126]
On December 31, 2020, Pitbull performed for a crowd of first responders in Times Square during the COVID-19 pandemic for New Year's Eve.[127]
