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    Interview

    Pitbull (Pt. 2)

    Mon, 17 Mar 2008 15:04:03

    Bark smart, bite hard


    In other places, when a lot people start getting big, and start getting put on, there's a little bit of the back biting. It doesn't seem like that in Miami. It seems like the people are all bigging each other up. Do you feel like it is kind of fam down there?

    Oh, for sure. We've all seen each other grind. We've all seen people come through our city and disrespect it. So we've got a pride, and a certain respect when it comes to being from the 305, being from Dade County, or being from South Florida period. You know, 954, 561, whatever it may be. You got all these cats coming out. All of Florida is blowing up. Plies, T-Pain, —even Chris Brown is on records talking about how he's from Tampa. It's definitely a surge, and we all respect each other. I respect Trick because I've seen Trick grind since I was a kid, and he respects me because he's seen me grind. I still grind. I still be in the club passing out my own CDs, and be in the DJs face making sure he plays my record.

    Did you have to grind harder being from Miami, since it wasn't always seen as a traditional hotbed of rap?

    For sure. People weren't even looking at us like that. That was one of the obstacles that I had to tackle, but it ended up being very beneficial to the whole Pitbull movement. It's one of my assets if you look at it. Me being a white, blues-eyed, Cuban and from Miami, that was four strikes fucking against me. [Laughs] The South don't really look at Miami like the South, and then the North looks at us like we country. It's crazy, because we really are like the most industrial thing below the Mason Dixon, if you come to think about it.

    Oh easily. You've got the most cheddar floating around, that's for sure [laughs].

    And, definitely the best looking women.

    I second that. We were talking about your music, and how you use the Miami bass and how you put them club bangers out there. Through the course of the album there's not just one sound that goes into that. What's the creative process? How you go out there and how find the producers you want to work with. Then how do you come up with these crazy samples, because there's a real international flavor too.

    Yeah, I shot for that. I shot for that, because I feel like right now, internationally, they're appreciating Hip Hop more than they are in the states. And I shot for that because when I'm in the club, and I'm looking at what people are moving to and going crazy for, right now it's more international music. So that's why you hear a record like "Midnight" which has a house/techno feel to it, with the Hip Hop in it also. I mean, you've got "The Ying and the Yang" that's got that worm in it,[Whistles melody] You know? "Go Girl" has that house feel to it too. So I definitely shot for that when I was making the album. How do I come out with these beats? Different people come just come up to me. Like "Go Girl," I got off MySpace.

    Did you really?

    Yeah, my DJ, DJ Buddha, was like, "Dog, you got to hear this record." I heard the record, we got in contact with Young Boss, and I was like, "Let me jump on it." He said cut me a deal, and tweak here and there. Then I got Trina involved, and that's basically how we got the whole "Go Girl" record going.

    I was just reading a lot about you outside of just the music, and you're an outspoken dude on a whole lot of different things. The immigration debate is going on big time now, and I know you had a couple things to say. So I'm wondering how you feel about how Latin folks are being seen right now, and their contributions that are not being appreciated.

    Well, I feel like it's really contradictory coming from the United States of America where it's the land of the free, the land of opportunity. Now they're going to shut that down. I mean, we're built on everybody here as an immigrant in one way or another. The only Americans here are Indians, if you want to talk history and facts. I feel that it's a shame, for one. Especially people who are coming over here looking for a better way of life, a better way of living. They are trying to prosper, and those that are trying to help them are even being punished. To me, being Cuban American, it's really, how should I say, disappointing. We're the one's, Latins, who are doing jobs no one would want to do right now. We keep it real. We do these little jobs, and we create our own little businesses, and we go out there and try and better ourselves. So they're out here hustling and struggling for the American dream, and as soon as they step on American soil, you're trying to snatch that from them? That don't make no sense to me.

    Your music is international, and Miami is a real international city, but like you're saying, Americans are sort of self-centered. We don't really look out there at the world. Do you think that what you say, and the music that you do, might help open us up a little bit, so we can see that there's something outside our shores?

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