When the Southern-flavored
party rap called crunk took over
urban radio in 2004, Miami rapper
Pitbull decided it was time to seek stardom. The way
Pitbull sees it, "crunk ain't nothin' but
bass music slowed down." Miami
bass music, that is, the kind
Pitbull grew up on.
His parents were first-generation Cuban immigrants who didn't let their son forget about his culture. They required him to memorize the works of Cuban poet José Martí, and
Pitbull understood the power of words right away. Southern acts like Poison Clan and Luther Campbell were early influences, but as he grew, the young rapper got turned on to the
G-funk sound of the West Coast and the New York City point of view
Nas brought to the game.
Pitbull got involved in the game himself when he started appearing on Miami mixtapes. A meeting with
Irv Gotti resulted in nothing, but soon Luther Campbell called on the rapper to appear on his "Lollipop" single. It brought
Pitbull to the attention of the
Diaz Brothers management team, who introduced the rapper to the king of crunk,
Lil Jon. A
Pitbull freestyle landed on
Lil Jon's platinum-selling
Kings of Crunk album in 2002, and the rapper's "Oye" track appeared on the
2 Fast 2 Furious soundtrack in 2003. Ready to take it all the way to the top,
Pitbull unleashed his debut full-length,
M.I.A.M.I., in 2004 on the TVT label with the
Lil Jon-produced single "Culo" leading the way. Soon
Pitbull was making guest appearances on tracks by everyone from
the Ying Yang Twins to
Elephant Man. The 2005 compilation Money Is Still a Major Issue collected the best of these collaborations along with some remixes and unreleased tracks. In 2006 the single "Bojangles" prepared fans for his next album, El Mariel. As the album landed on the shelves it was announced that his next effort would be entirely in Spanish and titled
The Boatlift. ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide
