Pitbull:
M.I.A. Hustle
(Audio
Feature/April, 2005)
INTERVIEW
CONDUCTED BY: Big
Will Z & Pitbull
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ISSUE
# 7 FEATURES |
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Most
people, when asked about the origins of “Crunk,”
would usually point to Atlanta due to the efforts of artists
like Lil Jon and DJ Smurf. While this is close, the real origins
of “Crunk” started in Miami according to Southern
rapper Pitbull. "Crunk really got started in Miami with
bass music," he said. "Crunk ain't nothin' but bass
music slowed down. And bass music got started here in Miami
with Luke, Poison Clan, and people like that. Miami is the
New York of the South. And even after all the success, we
still get slept on. But that's about to change."
Pitbull is
at the forefront of this change, rolling with Crunk's premier
label, TVT Records, which is home to Lil Jon and the Ying
Yang Twins. Despite Pitbull's age of 23, living in Miami has
given him the experience of someone twice that age. He’s
got his culture early, and almost before he discovered hip-hop.
His parents were both first generation Cuban immigrants and
had him memorize the poems of legendary Cuban poet, Jose Marti.
This ritual instilled in him at an early appreciation for
the power of language, as well as the importance of his Cuban
roots and looking
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beyond his own experience for inspiration. He drew from a wide
variety of influences in his teenage years with classics like
Illmatic and G-Funk blueprints like The Chronic and Doggystyle.
Pitbull developed his freestyle skills which later led to releasing
mix tapes all over the Miami streets. After several missed opportunities
such as a planned recording session with Irv Gotti that never
happened, Pitbull turned to his home base for entry in the game.
In the late 90’s, he was tabbed by bass music legend Luke
to flow over his hit single Lollipop. “I am grateful for
him, not just because Lollipop did mad business all through
the south," Pitbull says. "But because he helped me
learn the ropes of the business." On the eve of his debut,
Pitbull explains why he signed with TVT Records. "They
let me know I could have my hand in the pot. That's a good feeling,
and it lets me know I'm going to have a long career in this
game." |
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>>FEATURED
AUDIO: Pitbull
>> SOURCE: WWS Magazine
>>INTERVIEW FORMAT: Windows AUDIO
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Interview
includes the song "That's Nasty" by Pitbull
fea. Lil Scrappy
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PITBULL |
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WWS
MAG: What were your first moves and involvements to get
you started in your career? |
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I
mean I really just fell into it. I was in the schools, clubs
and block parties and all of that. That was basically how I
got into it. Ever since high school, I started at sixteen. |
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You
had an opportunity to be on Murder Inc’s roster. What
happened with that situation? |
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It
was really before Murder Inc, and the thing was I wasn’t
really for the situation. I was young, a rookie in the game.
But on top of that, the opportunity that was given to me, I
really didn’t know how to take advantage of it. But I
see it as a blessing from the sky because I really learned the
game from Uncle Luke. I really learned the game from the inside
out. |
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You
say that everyone has a Scarface in their family. Who was it
in your family? |
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The
Scarface in this family? My father was the Scarface. Basically
Miami in the eighties that was what it was. That was the type
of world it was. Cuban cats came in here that had nothing and
tried to make something of it whichever way they had to. |
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Can
you tell me about the drugs and dealers that were around before
you broke in as a rapper? |
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We’re
more about hustling. We’re more about making money. Miami
was basically the capital to the world’s underground.
I’ve seen it all coming up. It was all around me. My grandmother’s
lost houses because of drug dealers that were trying to put
it up to help get people out of jail. I’ve seen houses
get raided by the FBI. The funny thing is most of the times
when I saw houses get raided by FBI or DEA I was in good neighborhoods. |
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Being a rapper yourself, why do you think rappers have to have
a big image of drug trafficking and dealing? |
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A
lot of them came up in the street. And as soon as they get into
the game, it’s a drug game. Your product is your CD and
you’re trying to get everybody hooked. I don’t think
they should glorify it. I think they should just speak about
it in a way like “yeah I did that but look at me now.”
So you know, take it from a negative to a positive. |
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How’s
business for Pitbull right now? What are your ultimate goals
that you want to accomplish with your music? |
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I
basically want to do something that puts Miami on the next level.
On top of that, being Latin from the south, doing something
that no one has ever expected. It’s a movement better
yet a revolution. I took another route with it. I just have
to be successful. I want to do my own thing, you know, speaking
Spanish on records and all that right there. People weren’t
doing that back then. A lot of cats that were Spanish didn’t
want to speak Spanish because they though it sounded corny or
whatever. I always stuck to my roots. I stuck to what I believed
in and now people respect it. Now it has evolved. You got other
Spanish cats doing their thing. But the great thing about me
is I can put my foot in a lot of different movements from the
Reggatone movement, crunk movement, down south movement to the
Latin movement and be respected because of the grind-work that
I put in. |
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How
did you hook up with TVT Records? |
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TVT
heard about me when I was already making some noise. I got pushed
by Lil’Jon also. TVT didn’t sign me until they saw
my grind. They would see me all over the place; every show with
Jon. They saw me trying to push my own mixtapes. They saw me
hustle. And that is really why I got signed to TVT. |
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What
are you currently working on right now as far as your music
goes? |
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The
album just dropped (M.I.A.M.I) August 24th. It’s already
at around 300,000. Then I’ve got a couple songs on Lil’Jon’s
new album. Then I’m going to be working on an all Spanish
album, a reggaetone compilation, and then as always, my mixtapes.
I always work on mixtapes.
You are in
the bay area right? To the whole bay, I appreciate the love.
To all the fans out there that held Pitbull down: If it wasn’t
for them I wouldn’t be a motha fucken thing, so I appreciate
it. |
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DOWNLOAD
ENTIRE AUDIO INTERVIEW BELOW |
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