Pitbull To Speak At Billboard Latin "East Meets West" Urban Panel on April 27, 2005
Pitbull¹s Debut Album 'M.I.A.M.I.' Has Gone Gold With Shipments of Over
500,000 Copies In the United States, Giving the Cuban-American MC the
Biggest Bilingual Hip-Hop Debut In More Than a Decade
Bolstered By the Hit Singles "Culo", "Toma" and "Dammit Man," Pitbull¹s Album M.I.A.M.I. (TVT Records) Has Spent More Than 31 Weeks on the Billboard Top Independent Albums Chart
Bilingual rapper Pitbull will be a featured panelist at the upcoming
Billboard Latin conference "Worlds Apart - East Meets West" urban music
panel on April 27th (2pm-3:30pm at the Intercontinental Hotel in Miami).
Pitbull will be joined by other heavy hitters, including Daddy Yankee, Ivy
Queen, Akwid, and Yotuel of Orishas. The panelists will discuss how these
two urban Latin manifestations (reggaeton and urban regional music) can find
common ground and flourish.
After spending more than 31 weeks on Billboard¹s Top Independent Albums
Chart, best-selling Cuban-American rapper Pitbull has now reached gold
status for shipments of more than 500,000 copies of his debut album
'M.I.A.M.I.: Money Is A Major Issue' in the United States. The feat gives
Pitbull the biggest-selling bilingual hip-hop debut since Cypress Hill¹s
1991 self-titled debut, and puts him in the rare category of Latino rappers
who have achieved major success at English-language radio.
Pitbull is also currently the Artist of the Month on Yahoo! Musica en
Espanol for the month of April - musica.yahoo.com. With his first two singles 'Culo' and 'Dammit
Man' having already landed heavy mainstream radio and MTV play, Pitbull is
now promoting his third radio single and video, 'Toma', which features Lil
Jon as guest vocalist. The collaboration marks a return to the airwaves for
the pair, who scored big this past summer with the breakthrough hit 'Culo'.
The new single 'Toma' was already prominently featured in a recent episode
of the NBC show 'Las Vegas', and has been added to rotation on MTV, BET,
Mun2, and LATV.
Pitbull has also been lined up as the spokesman for Reebok¹s new "305"
sneaker line, which will debut later this summer. The Miami-based rapper
also continues to make noise on the charts with his collaboration with Daddy
Yankee and Noreaga on the popular remix of Daddy Yankee's hit "Gasolina",
which is also included on the limited edition version of the new Lil Jon &
The East Side Boyz album "Crunk Juice" (which recently debuted at #3 on the
Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart).
In further collaboration news, Pitbull guests on acclaimed Cuban rappers
Orishas' new album "El Kilo" with the collaborative track 'Quien Te Dijo.'
Other recent Pitbull collaborations include performances on Baby Bash¹s new
album 'Trees' and Adassa's album entitled "Kumasutra".
An avid basketball fan, Pitbull has also begun his new role as a columnist
for the NBA's new bilingual website his next article will be a
Pitbull-style season-in-review analysis of the Miami Heat. His previous
NBA.com article about Latinos in the NBA can be viewed at nba.com/espanol/blog/pitbull. Sharp and outspoken,
Pitbull recently contributed an essay to the NY Post in which he condemned
the iconization of Che Guevara. He has spoken on National Public Radio
about Cuban-American relations, and has been featured in The Source
regarding his stance on Fidel Castro.
Unlike many other Latino rappers, Pitbull has managed to achieve
success in the mainstream hip-hop world with bilingual lyrics and potent
beats laced with reggaeton. He is equally comfortable sharing the stage at
the VIBE Awards with Lil Jon as he is collaborating with Paulina Rubio in an
attention-grabbing performance at the recent MTV Latin America Awards.
Evidencing Pitbull¹s growing acceptance among mainstream hip-hop fans, his
clip for "Culo" was nominated last year for MTV's 'Best Booty Shakin¹ Video
of 2004.' Pitbull also recently hosted MTV Jams' recent "25 Greatest
Southern Artists of All Time" special, where he counted down the artists
that put the South on the map.
Pitbull released his debut album "M.I.A.M.I.: Money Is A Major Issue," on
New York-based independent label TVT Records this past August. The album,
which hit #14 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart, was produced by The
Diaz Brothers and by super producer/artist Lil Jon. It features heavyweight
guests such as Lil Jon, Trick Daddy, Fat Joe, and others.
The 24 year-old
Cuban-American rapper's infectious sound combines hip-hop, crunk, reggae,
reggeton, and dancehall, with English and Spanish lyrics. In what seems like
a short while, Pitbull has quickly become one of the most buzzworthy hip-hop
acts in the country and an MTV favorite.
Pitbull can also be found playing himself in the upcoming videogame
"Scarface," featuring Tony Montana.
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