Tuesday, July 19th, 2011

“I’m not suggesting I run the world, I just feel like I’ve built my own planet,” he says.

Pitbull explains that he’s titled his new album Planet Pit because he feels as if the world is his right now, he’s not just blowing smoke.

“I’m catching a lot of people’s ears, whether it’s with my music or appearing on someone else’s track. When ‘I Know You Want Me [Calle Ocho]’ took off, I started traveling the world, and I saw the impact that a global hit can have — the way it brings people together. So now I’ve set my goals even higher. Going in to make Planet Pit, I said, ‘Okay, Pitbull was cool, Mr. 305 was great — now it’s time for Mr. Worldwide.”

You need to generate a lot of heat if you want to be Mr. Worldwide, but if there’s one thing Pitbull has — besides a way with rapid-fire rhymes, billion-dollar beats, and globally infectious hooks — it’s charm by the boatload.

Pit’s magnetic personality electrifies Planet Pit — a spicy, stylish stew of raps, beats, and hooks influenced by the music Pit has absorbed growing up and living in Miami, which claims a wide range of dance-driven sounds thanks to the Cuban, Dominican, Colombian, and Caribbean people who make it their home.

“I grew up with salsa, merengue, bachata, booty-shaking music, freestyle music, then came hip hop for me. So you throw all that in a pot, which we call a paella in Spanish — that’s what I’m trying to do with this album,” says Pit, who performed in such far-flung locales as France, Indonesia, South Africa, Brazil, and Singapore, among others, while promoting Rebelution.

“It embodies a bit of everywhere I’ve been. For example, ‘Shake Señora’ has got T-Pain, who’s from Tallahassee and Sean Paul who brings the Jamaican feel. I’m trying to be the ambassador; the bridge builder who brings elements from all over the world and puts it all together so it sounds like nothing you’ve ever heard before.”

The album’s hot new single, “Give Me Everything,” catches fire thanks to the sizzling talents of Ne-Yo, Afrojack and Nayer. Much like the worldwide smash, Planet Pit is a star-studded affair that includes contributions by a host of pop music luminaries, such as singers Marc Anthony (“Rain Over Me”), Jamie Foxx (“Where Do We Go”), Chris Brown (“International Love”), and Kelly Rowland (“Castles Made of Sand”).

To give the album its edge, Pit surrounds himself with a rouges gallery of today’s hottest artists that includes T-Pain (“Hey Baby”) and Sean Paul.

To blend the album’s diverse sounds into a seamless flow, Pit tapped top producers like David Guetta, Afrojack (“Something 4 The DJ’s”), RedOne, Polow Da Don and DJ Frank E. In fact, Pitbull’s “Come & Go” which features Enrique Iglesias marks the first time that super-producers Dr. Luke, Benny Blanco and Max Martin work with Pit. “The goal for Planet Pit was to pack it with 10 big singles,” Pit says. “I want each track to be a huge record, not just two records and the rest is bullsh*t.”

With its relentless rhythms, the music is tailor-made for the clubs, but Pit has already proven that he can cross over to urban, Latin, and pop audiences with the Brazilian-influenced “I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho),” which climbed to No. 2 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and hit the Top 5 internationally, including in the U.K. and Canada.

His sound, combining hip-hop and Euro-dance elements with fierce rhymes and sizzling pop hooks, has proven to be a winner on the charts.