Pitbull (rapper)

Armando Christian Pérez (born January 15, 1981), known professionally as Pitbull, is an American rapper. He began his career in the early 2000s and recorded reggaeton, Latin hip hop, and crunk music under a multitude of labels. He signed with TVT Records to release his debut studio album, ''M.I.A.M.I.'' (2004), which was executive produced by Lil Jon. It moderately entered the ''Billboard'' 200, along with his second and third albums, ''El Mariel'' (2006) and ''The Boatlift'' (2007). His fourth album, ''Pitbull Starring in Rebelution'' (2009) was supported by the singles "I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)" and "Hotel Room Service", both of which yielded his mainstream breakthrough and peaked at numbers two and eight on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, respectively.

After rebranding himself as a pop artist, Pitbull's sixth and seventh albums, ''Planet Pit'' (2011) and ''Global Warming'' (2012) achieved further commercial success; the former spawned his first ''Billboard'' Hot 100-number one single "Give Me Everything" (featuring Ne-Yo, Afrojack and Nayer), while the latter spawned the top ten hit "Feel This Moment" (featuring Christina Aguilera). His 2013 single, "Timber" (featuring Kesha) became his second song to peak the chart, and did so in 18 other countries. His 2014 single, "Time of Our Lives" (with Ne-Yo) peaked within the chart's top ten and led his eighth album, ''Globalization'' (2014). That same year, he performed the song "We Are One (Ole Ola)" (with Jennifer Lopez and Claudia Leitte), which served as the official theme of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Meanwhile, Pitbull made numerous guest appearances on a number of hit songs, including the ''Billboard'' Hot 100-top four singles "I Like It" by Enrique Iglesias, "DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love" by Usher, and "On the Floor" by Jennifer Lopez.

His subsequent albums, ''Dale'' (2015) and ''Climate Change'' (2017) trailed commercially. His eleventh album and first independent release, ''Libertad 548'' (2019) focused on Latin hip hop and was led by the singles "No Lo Trates" (with Daddy Yankee and Natti Natasha) and "Me Quedaré Contigo" (featuring Ne-Yo). His twelfth album, ''Trackhouse'' (2023) delved further into Latin influences.

Pitbull has sold over 25 million studio albums and over 100 million singles worldwide. He has over 15 billion views on YouTube as of May 2020. He was ranked by ''Billboard'' as the 45th Top Artist of the 2010s and the 24th Top Latin Artist of the 2010s. Pitbull's other ventures include brand ambassadorship and for various entities, activism and philanthropy in Latino American communities, a radio station—Pitbull's Globalization—on Sirius XM Radio, and ownership of the Trackhouse Racing NASCAR team. As of May 2019, Pitbull has won 35 ''Billboard'' Latin Music Awards. Provided by Wikipedia