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 had also been a victim of violence by her own mother. He lived for a time with neighbors who had two children of the same age and attended the same school until his mother found work and was able to recover. Pitbull's mother emigrated to the United States through Operation Peter Pan, something for which the artist is grateful as it allowed him to be born in a free country.
He adopted his stage name thanks to a friend who, after hearing him rap in his early freestyle years, told him he did with words what a dog of that breed does—once it has its prey, it doesn't let go. 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 track "Lollipop" with Luke, the singer from 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 installment of The Fast & The Furious.
In 2005, Pitbull released his first album, M.I.A.M.I., where he blended hip-hop with reggaeton and sold 500,000 copies. From that moment on, his career became unstoppable, attracting collaboration requests from other artists and highlighting the uniqueness of his persona.
In his next album, Mariel -named in homage to 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 manages to place the song "I Know You Want Me" in second place on the Billboard Hot 100. Three years later, the single “Give Me Everything” from his fifth album Armando reaches number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Many of his songs have topped the charts in countries across Europe, America, and the United States itself.
He recorded songs 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 hosted events like the American Music Awards (2014).
In 2013, he contributed to the creation and funding of a public educational center called 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 connection with 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.
At the beginning of 2020, he became embroiled in a controversy with Gente de Zona that generated much criticism from his Cuban fans, in addition to statements from some Cuban artists against him. The group Gente de Zona, based in Miami but performing in Cuba with the approval of the Cuban government, publicly recognized Miguel Díaz-Canel as their president during one of their performances and included Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, the grandson and chief of personal security for Cuban leader Raúl Castro, on stage. This sparked significant outrage among the Cuban exile community, which harshly criticized the stance of the two members of the duo residing in the United States, even raising questions about the potential withdrawal 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 concert in 2019, which was held at Bayfront Park in Miami. They were set to perform alongside others, including Pitbull, who took the opportunity to send a greeting to the Cuban duo, stating that “music is music and politics is politics.”
A flood of accusations were directed at the singer, who later acknowledged in an interview that he might not have even understood the magnitude of what was behind it when he greeted Randy and Alexander during his performance. Pitbull apologized and affirmed 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 unity.
Has a record label Mr. 305 Records with which Cuban singer Lenier Mesa signed in August 2020. He had already collaborated in 2019 with the American artist on the song "Me quedaré contigo" alongside Ne-Yo and El Micha, a track included by Pitbull in his tenth album Libertad 548.
In August 2020, Cuban singer Yomil announced that Pitbull would be preparing along with popular DJ IamChino a special tribute for El Dany, a renowned member of the Cuban duo Yomil y El Dany, who passed away in Havana on July 18, 2020.
