Armando Christian Pérez, Pitbull in the artistic world, is an American singer, rapper, songwriter, and music producer of Cuban descent, born on January 15, 1981, in Miami, Florida, United States. He has two sisters from his mother's previous marriages. His childhood was marked by significant instability due to his mother's alcoholism, who had been sexually abused by her cousins during her childhood and was also a victim of violence from her own mother. He lived for a time with neighbors who had two children of his age and attended the same school until his mother found a job and was able to recover. Pitbull's mother emigrated to the United States through Operation Peter Pan, which the artist is grateful for, as it allowed him to be born in a free country.
His stage name was adopted thanks to a friend who, upon hearing him rap in his early freestyle days, told him that he handled words just like a dog of that breed, which wouldn't let go of its prey once it caught it. He is also known as Mr. 305 or Mr. Worldwide.
The first steps of his successful music career were taken in hip hop. It was the 90s when Pitbull recorded the song "Lollipop" with Luke, the singer of 2 Live Crew. In 2003, he collaborated on the album Kings of Crunk, alongside Lil Jon and the East Side Boyz. Some of the tracks were included in the soundtrack of the second part of The Fast & The Furious.
In 2005, Pitbull released his first album, M.I.A.M.I., where he fused hip-hop with reggaeton and sold 500,000 copies. From that moment on, his career became unstoppable, leading to collaboration requests from other artists, highlighting the uniqueness of his persona.
In his next album, Mariel—named in honor of his father who emigrated from Cuba in the 80s during the opening of that port—he appears alongside Shakira, Wyclef Jean, among others.
With his fourth album The Boatlift, he achieved a placement of the song "I Know You Want Me" at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. Three years later, the single "Give Me Everything" from his fifth album Armando became number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Many of his songs have reached number one on the charts in countries across Europe, America, and the United States itself.
He recorded tracks for movie soundtracks: Men in Black 3 (2012), The Penguins of Madagascar (2013). In 2019, he lent his voice to the character of the dog in the children's film Ugly Dolls, where he also contributed to the music. He has participated in charity campaigns, such as the recording of the song "We Are the World" alongside other renowned artists, aimed at raising funds for the victims of the earthquake that struck Haiti in 2010. Additionally, he has served as a host for events like the American Music Awards (2014).
In 2013, he contributed to the creation and funding of a public educational center, Sports Leadership and Management, in Little Havana, the neighborhood of his childhood, where he aims to support the development and education of young people through their involvement in sports and a method that combines fun with learning.
He has collaborated with well-known representatives of international music: Jennifer López, Shakira, Marc Anthony, Enrique Iglesias, Eminem, Usher, Christina Aguilera, Kesha, Chris Brown, among others.
Discs: 2004: M.I.A.M.I. (Money is a Major Issue), 2006: El Mariel, 2007: The Boatlift, 2009: Rebelution, 2010: Armando, 2011: Planet Pit, 2012: Global Warming, 2014: Globalization, 2015: Dale, 2017: Climate Change, 2019: Libertad 548
He was appointed Mayor of Little Havana in 2018.
In early 2020, he became embroiled in a controversy with Gente de Zona that sparked significant criticism from his Cuban fans, as well as statements from some Cuban artists against him. The group Gente de Zona, which resides in Miami but performs in Cuba with the approval of the Cuban government, publicly acknowledged Miguel Díaz Canel as their president during one of their performances, and also had Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, the grandson and head of personal security for the Cuban leader Raúl Castro, on stage with them. This ignited considerable outrage within the Cuban exile community, which severely questioned the stance of the two members of the duo residing in the United States, even going so far as to contemplate the revocation of their permanent Green Card residency.
The reaction from the Cuban exile community was swift, leading to the cancellation of the duo's performance at the New Year's Eve concert in 2019, which was held at Bayfront Park in Miami, where they were set to perform alongside others, including Pitbull, who took the opportunity to send his regards to the Cuban duo by stating that “music is music and politics is politics.”
A flood of accusations was directed at the singer, who later acknowledged in an interview that he might not have even been aware of the extent of what lay beneath when he greeted Randy and Alexander during his performance. Pitbull apologized and assured that he is fully integrated and aware of the needs of the Cuban exile community, and that his role will continue to be one of unification.
He has a record label, Mr. 305 Records, with which Cuban singer Lenier Mesa signed in August 2020. He had previously collaborated in 2019 with the American artist on the song "Me quedaré contigo" alongside Ne-Yo and El Micha, a track included in Pitbull's tenth album, Libertad 548.
In August 2020, the Cuban singer Yomil announced that Pitbull, along with the popular DJ IamChino, would be preparing a special tribute for El Dany, a well-known member of the Cuban duo Yomil y El Dany, who passed away in Havana on July 18, 2020.
