Some call it opportunistic; others call it business-savvy, but whatever you call it the formula works for Pitbull. Last year, he supplied a guest verse on a number of his friend's records, including but not limited to Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony, Usher, Ne-Yo, Chris Brown and Enrique Iglesias.
The video for "Get It Started", his newest collaboration with Columbian songstress Shakira, was just released days ago. One of the lines (quoted above) summarizes Pit's rise to the top. From the streets to the penthouse, an American dream story as good as any.
Fluent in Spanglish, Pit peppered his set with several shouts of "dale!" and "ya tu sabes!", stopping to translate whenever he could. The night played out like the world's largest Zumba class. Pit would dance, and the ladies danced. He jumped, and they did too. When he waved his hands in the air, they did also, as if they just didn't care (they did).
My favorite part of the night was when he told the story of his trip through Brazil where he met singer Michel Telo, who asked Pit to remix his international hit "Ai Se Eu Te Pego." Pit obliged of course, and both he and the crowd sang the with overjoyed voices, followed by raucous applause after the samba-dance breakdown.
The night ended with the track "Give Me Everything (Tonight), his biggest hit to date. "Ustedes, la gente de Houston, tienen tremenda energia!" he stated as he thanked his fans. ("The people of Houston have fantastic energy!")
He gave them everything that night. And I didn't die.