Armando Pérez, or better known around the world as Pitbull, is the man behind nightclub anthems Hotel Room Service, I Know You Want Me and Give Me Everything. Not only that, but Pitbull has also collaborated with some of the biggest names in the biz. Thanks to his recent chart-topping hit with Jennifer Lopez, the saucy music video for
On The Floor has been watched over 328 million times, making Pitbull the third most watched artist on YouTube, trailing only Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber.
We caught up with the smooth Miami-born rapper to ask some of your reader questions.
How did you get the name Pitbull?
A friend gave me the name actually. Obviously, it has a lot to do with the dog, but it comes from the fact that in life – and in the music business – we don’t understand what the word "lose" means, and neither does the dog – it fights, and fights, and fights. We’re constantly fighting in this world, and pitbulls never give up; they bite, they lock, they don’t let go until they’ve taken care of business. Plus, pitbulls are illegal in Miami – so that makes me the only legal pitbull in Miami [grins].
Who has been your favourite artist to work with so far?
My favourite? It's hard to say because everybody has something different that I love about them. Shakira was amazing to work with because she’s such a down-to-earth person and I love to see that in people who are such global phenomenons. Enrique [Iglesias] – I learnt a lot from him. He taught me how to have an ear for a big, big, bigger record. And Marc [Anthony]. He’s just an amazing talent but he’s crazy, just like me. He loves to have a good time – he’s wild; that’s what I love about him. And J.Lo – I just love to watch her. She’s a walking empire and a hard worker so hopefully some of that rubs off on me.
Who would you love to work with?
Love to work with Jay-Z, [Katy] Perry, [Britney] Spears, [Lady] Gaga... just to see what kind of music we come up with. I always dreamed of working with was Celia Cruz, but she passed away. She, to me, is the Queen – she is everything that music stands for, which is just having fun and letting loose and enjoying yourself. So hopefully through technology we can make that happen!
What can we expect from your new album, Planet Pit?
Planet Pit embodies a planet of music – that’s what we wanted to create; our own planet of music. The goal was to make every record a potential single, so we’ve done it with Hey Baby featuring T-Pain, then you have Ne-Yo, Nayer and Afrojack Give Me Everything, now it’s Rain Over Me featuring Marc Anthony.
Planet Pit is an escape from all the negativity that’s going on in the world. We made sure that we’re giving everybody great music, track after track, so when you hear it, you go, “God, that’s a big one!” “Wow, that’s a big one!” “Oh, I like this one better than the last one!” That’s the kind of emotion I want to tap into when people pop in Planet Pit.
Why do you think you’ve achieved such worldwide success? Do you see yourself as a global artist who appeals to everybody?
It’s been a lot of hard years and hard work and now it’s time to work even harder. I think, globally, we’ve achieved such success because everybody can relate, not only to me as a person, but also my story, because everybody in the world, in one way or another, is trying to look for a better future; a better life; a better opportunity or to create one themselves.
When people get to know me, not only through my music, but then once they see me in interviews or read about me they go, “Wow, this guy does have a different kind of mentality, he’s a person who’s fought for what he believes in and his music”. The music itself is global – everybody can dance to it; everybody can enjoy it and it just goes to show that music is the universal language... and I love it.
You often sing about lots of different countries around the world. What’s your favourite city?
My favourite city is Miami. I love Miami but I also love going to the Dominican Republic. And I can’t wait for Cuba to open up and be free so I can go and live in Cuba.
What’s the coolest club you’ve ever been to?
Coolest club – Las Vegas, Tao. Tao is very sexy – women in the hot tubs in milk, the unisex transparent bathrooms with the foggy doors. I like Tao; Tao is very sexy.
You’re currently touring with Enrique Iglesias. What’s he like to tour with?
Enrique is an amazing artist but on top of that, an amazing person; a really good guy. I’ve learnt a lot from him and he’s given me a great opportunity on Baby I Like It as well as on this tour – running with him all around the world. He’s given me another great opportunity on another big record he’s about to put out now, get ready for it... RedOne produced that!
Not only do Enrique and I have a great business relationship, but we’ve created a great personal relationship aswell. Just to be backstage with him, talking about certain things, what he’s looking at, what he thinks is next and what I think is next, when you put those two minds together, it can be very interesting to watch... and even dangerous at times for other people in the music business.
You’ve been to Australia before, is that right?
Yes, I performed in Australia with A-kon – we came last year with Kelly Rowland, Sean Paul and Eve. So I’ve been here before, love it...
And what do you think of Australian girls?
Very beautiful and very multicultural – what I mean is they come in all shapes and sizes and forms [laughs]... A lot of fun.
Almost all of your hits have become instant nightclub anthems – do you go out a lot yourself?
My whole life I’ve grown up basically either in the streets or in the clubs, but now I don’t get to go out that much because it would become something else! But I love to study what’s going on; love to see what makes people dance so I create my own club atmosphere where I invite people I know where we can act the fool and get crazy and no-one’s going to take a picture and put it on Facebook or Twitter. You’ve got to be very, very, very careful these days. So we still create that ambiance, and I still get to study what’s going to be the next movement.
What’s your favourite move to bust on the dance floor?
My favourite move? I love to dance merengue. Merengue is a lot of fun; it’s like having great sex on the dancefloor... [winks].
What celebrity would you like to swap lives with for the day?
Swap lives with? Ooh man, that’s a good one. The young Hugh Hefner!
What does “dale” mean? What is the significance of it in all your songs?
Dale means... like, you hang up the phone and you say “later”... that’s dale to us. If someone were to say something to me, I’d say, “oh okay, dale”, like “go ahead and hang up the phone, or go ahead and do what you’re going to do”. Just like in any language, one word can mean a lot of things. So dale can mean to hit, but when I say it, I don’t mean it like that; it’s more like, “dale, alright I’m checkin’ out now...” That’s why I always say it at the end of a verse or when I do like a drop or an interview because it’s my way of saying, “alright, I’m out”. You know, “dale, now you’re gonna go do your thing.”
For more on Pitbull, check out pitbullmusic.com. Dale!
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