Pitbull

Armando Christian Pérez, known as Pitbull in the artistic world, is an American singer, rapper, composer, and music producer of Cuban descent born on January 15, 1981 in Miami, Florida, United States. He has two half-sisters from his mother's previous marriages. His childhood was marked by great instability due to his mother's alcoholism, who had been sexually abused by her cousins in her childhood, as well as being a victim of violence from her own mother. He lived for a while with neighbors who had two children of the same 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, something the artist is grateful for as it allowed him to be born in a free country.

He adopted his stage name thanks to a friend who, upon hearing him rap in his early freestyle years, told him that he did with words the same thing as a dog of that breed, that when it grabbed its prey it did not let go. He is also known as Mr. 305 or Mr. Worldwide.

He took his first steps in his successful music career 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 with Lil Jon and the East Side Boyz. Some of the songs 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 blends hip-hop with reggaeton and sells 500,000 copies. From that moment on, his career became unstoppable, with requests for collaborations from other artists highlighting the uniqueness of his persona.

In his next album, Mariel -which he named in tribute to his father who emigrated from Cuba in the 80s during the opening of said port- he appears alongside Shakira, Wyclef Jean, among others.

With his fourth album, The Boatlift, he manages to place the track "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 becomes number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Many of his tracks have reached number one on the charts in European countries, America, and the United States itself.

He has 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 collaborated with the music. He has participated in charitable 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. He has also been a presenter at events such as the American Music Awards (2014).

In 2013, he contributed to the creation and financing of a public educational center, Sports Leadership and Management, in Little Havana, the neighborhood of his childhood, where he aims to contribute to the development and education of the youth through their connection with sports and a method that combines fun with learning.

He has collaborated with well-known representatives of international music: Jennifer Lopez, Shakira, Marc Anthony, Enrique Iglesias, Eminem, Usher, Christina Aguilera, Kesha, Chris Brown, among others.

Discography: 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 was involved in a controversy with Gente de Zona that generated many criticisms 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 at one of their performances, and also had on stage Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, grandson and Chief of Personal Security of the Cuban ruler Raúl Castro. This sparked great indignation within the Cuban exile community, which strongly questioned the stance of the two members of the duo residing in the United States, even raising the question of their permanent residency Green Card being revoked.

The reaction of the Cuban exile was immediate, and the duo's performance at the New Year's concert in 2019 held at Bayfront Park in Miami was canceled. They were set to perform alongside Pitbull, who took the opportunity to send a greeting to the Cuban duo, stating that "music is music, and politics is politics."

An avalanche of accusations were thrown at the singer, who later admitted in an interview that perhaps he didn't even know the extent of what was at stake when he greeted Randy and Alexander during his performance. Pitbull apologized and assured that he is fully engaged and aware of the needs of the Cuban exile community, and that his role will continue to be that of uniting.

He has a record label, Mr. 305 Records, with which Cuban singer Lenier Mesa signed in August 2020. Lenier had already worked with American artist in 2019, collaborating on the song "Me quedaré contigo" with Ne-Yo and El Micha, a track that Pitbull included in his tenth album, Libertad 548.

In August 2020, the Cuban singer Yomil announced that Pitbull would be preparing, together with the popular DJ IamChino, 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.