Pitbull Unleashed

With a nickname like Pitbull, you got to be tough, and this Cuban-American is-tough in that he brings together so many musical inspirations to deliver his own unique South Florida sounds. For starters, Pitbull claims that his parents used to make him remember the poetic stanzas of Jose Marti, the Cuban artist. Add that influence to the booming Miama bass hip hop, and you're starting to get my drift.

His big breaks to express himself came through performing first on other people's records, which is so often the case in this business. In the case of Armando Christian Perez, as Pitbull is known on his birth certificate, he got featured in 2002 on the record "Kings of Crunk," by East Side Boyz and Lil Jon.

The next year, in 2003, he got another break, being on the soundtrack for the street racing movie "2 Fast 2 Furious." Is that what got his name out there? Probably that, and the fact that Luther Campbell, former master dirty wordsmith with 2 Live Crew, put some Pitbull lyrics on his single "Lollipop." Plus, Pitbull kept putting out mix tapes and freestyle lyrics to try to gain some attention.

Mr. 305 Goes Solo

Whatever he did, it worked. In 2004, the first solo Pitbull album was released, called "M.I.A.M.I." What's that stand for? Money is a major issue, what else? The lead Pitbull single off the record was "Culo"-no need to mention what that means in translation. Another Pitbull song out around this time was "Nuestro Himno." This was a collaboration between Armando Christian Perez and Wyclef, among others.

Money was still an issue with the release of the second Pitbull record, "Money Is Still A Major Issue." (Like I said …) The big Pitbull singles off this album were "Shake" and "Everybody Get Up."

Hold up, you're asking. What does that Mr. 305 have to do with anything? Mr. 305 is another nickname for Pitbull, as is Lil' Chico. I guess you can never have too many nicknames while you're trying to overcome M.I.A.M.I.

Pitbull and Raggaeton

The third Pitbull album was called "El Mariel," released in 2006, and it shows just how far he's gotten in his career. Instead of Armando Christian Perez guest starring in other people's music, Pitbull had other people as guests in his album, including the Ying Yang Twins, Lil Jon, and Bun B.

The stage of the Pitbull career is also symbolic of his heavy involvement and influence in the Raggaeton genre, which is a blending of Latin American and Jamaican music into some funky dancehall stuff. Some Raggaeton Pitbull songs include "Jump and Spread Out" with Miri Ben-Ari, "Gasolina" with Daddy Yankee, and "Rah Rah Medley" with Elephant Man. Perhaps the biggest Pitbull single out of this phase in his career is "Spring Love 2007," which built off the success of the original "Spring Love" dance hit.

Meanwhile, Pitbull kept putting out records as well. His last one, from 2007, is "The Boatlift," obviously inspired by the historic Cuban-American historic event when thousands immigrated from the island to the United States.

From Pitbull to Hip Hop Music