Pitbull

Armando Christian Pérez, known by the stage name Pitbull or Mr. Worldwide, is an American rapper. His first recorded mainstream performance was on a solo track from Lil Jon's 2002 album Kings of Crunk. In 2004, Pitbull released his debut album M.I.A.M.I. under TVT Records. It included production producers Lil Jon and Jim Jonsin. Pitbull later released his second album El Mariel, in 2006 and his third, The Boatlift, in 2007. His fourth album, Rebelution (2009), included his breakthrough hit single "I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)", which peaked at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100. Pitbull's 2011 album Planet Pit, featured the single "Give Me Everything", which was his first US number-one single. His 2013 track "Timber" from his Meltdown EP topped the charts in twenty nations, including the US and UK. He performed the song "We Are One (Ole Ola)" along with Jennifer Lopez and Claudia Leitte, which served as the official theme of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Armando Christian Perez was born to Cuban expatriates in Miami, Florida. When he was 3, he could recite the works of Cuba's national hero and poet, José Martí, in Spanish. Growing up, he was influenced by the Miami bass genre of pop music and has cited Celia Cruz and Willy Chirino as sources of inspiration for his music. Pérez's parents separated when he was young, and he was raised by his mother; he later spent time with a foster family in Roswell, Georgia. He attended South Miami Senior High School before graduating from Miami Coral Park High School, where he focused his career on rapping. He said he chose his stage name of Pitbull because the dogs "bite to lock. The dog is too stupid to lose. And they're outlawed in Dade County. They're basically everything that I am. It's been a constant fight". After meeting Lil Jon in Miami, Pitbull was featured on Lil Jon and the East Side Boyz' album Kings of Crunk in 2002. Pitbull's song "Oye" was featured on the soundtrack to the film 2 Fast 2 Furious the following year. In addition, Pitbull released several mixtapes, composed of freestyles and remixes of popular rap music. Campbell featured Pitbull in his single, "Lollipop". n 2001, Pitbull was signed to Luther Campbell's Luke Records by Jullian Boothe, then the label's vice-president of A&R. 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. 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. 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 had recorded in 2001. 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. A U.S. District Court judge affirmed the decision further. 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. 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. In April 2011 Jennifer Lopez released Love?, which featured Pitbull on two singles. "Fresh Out the Oven" did not meet with critical or popular success but the second cut, "On the Floor" was a certified hit. The single went on to make its Billboard Hot 100 debut at number nine, becoming the highest debuting Hot 100 single of Lopez's career. Pitbull released Planet Pit, on June 21, 2011. Pitbull collaborated with T-Pain on its first single, which became a moderate hit; "Hey Baby (Drop It to the Floor)", which peaked at #7 on the Hot 100. On March 22, 2011, Pitbull released his second single, "Give Me Everything"; three months later, the song became Pitbull's first single to top the Billboard Hot 100. It was ranked no. 5 on the 2011 Billboard Year-End Chart. The song features American R&B singer Ne-Yo, American singer Nayer and Dutch DJ Afrojack, who also produced the song and co-wrote it with Matt Howard, Pitbull and Ne-Yo. In August 2011, Lindsay Lohan sued Pitbull, Ne-Yo and Afrojack in response to the song's lyrics referencing her name, "I've got it locked up like Lindsay Lohan." Lohan objected to the negative connotation of the line and claimed that she should have been compensated for the use of her name in the song. The case was dismissed by a federal judge, who ruled the tune's lyrics are protected by the First Amendment, which covers freedom of speech and creative expression. On November 10, 2017, Pitbull announced his 5th compilation album, titled 'Pitbull Greatest Hits'. The thirteen track album features eleven of Pitbull's most successful leading artist songs, accompanied by "Jungle (with Stereotypes ft. Abraham Mateo and E-40)" and "Locas (ft. Lil' Jon)", two brand new Pitbull songs. The deluxe edition of the album released exclusively in Japan featured a 14th Pitbull track, "Celebrate". The compilation album was released worldwide on December 1, 2017.