Pitbull is an American rapper. 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). 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 U.S. Billboard Hot 100, respectively.

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). 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. He was ranked by Billboard as the 45th Top Artist of the 2010s and the 24th Top Latin Artist of the 2010s. 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. As of May 2019, Pitbull has won 35 Billboard Latin Music Awards.

Family life

Armando Christian Pérez was born on January 15, 1981, in Miami, Florida, to Cuban immigrant parents. While growing up, he was strongly encouraged by his family to "take advantage" of the privilege of living in America, and the opportunities it came with. His family has a history of fighting against the Castro regime in Cuba. When he was three, he could recite the works of Cuban national hero and poet José Martí in Spanish. He learned English by watching Sesame Street as a child. His father was largely absent from his childhood; his parents separated when he was young, and he was raised mostly by his mother, later stating: "my mom is my father and my mother." He briefly stayed with a foster family in Roswell, Georgia. His parents struggled with substance abuse; as a teenager, he was also involved with drug use and dealing, which eventually led to him getting kicked out of the family house. He attended South Miami Senior High School and Miami Coral Park High School. 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".

Sources

• "Pitbull (rapper)." Wikipedia, revision of 24 September 2024. < link > Accessed 24 September 2024.