ARTIST: Pitbull
ALBUM: Planet Pit
LABEL: J Records
RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2011
Mr. Worldwide
Written by Jeremy Weeden
Miami-bred rapper Pitbull has come a long way since he started his career working with the likes of Uncle Luke and Lil Jon on his debut album, M.I.A.M.I. As his music gradually began to lean more towards dance-inspired tracks, Pitbull began to transcend the world of hip-hop and is now positioning himself as one of the top music stars of today. He has been featured on numerous hit songs over the past year, including Jennifer Lopez’s recent comeback hit “On the Floor.” As Pitbull says on the opening track of his most recent album Planet Pit, he went from “Mr. 305 to Mr. Worldwide.” This seems to be in part due to his knack for making dance songs that are generally popular with everyone. This latest effort, Planet Pit, continues the trend and ensures Pitbull’s days as a mainstay on your radio and in the clubs is far from over.
Planet Pit is essentially an early Christmas present to the dance clubs across the world. It is the perfect culmination of electro-pop and rap music; a Black Eyed Peas album with much harder rhymes. Almost every song features a pulsating, hand-clapping, booty-moving beat along with a catchy chorus that one could easily imagine singing along to while slightly inebriated in a nightclub. This is ever-evident on the second single from the album “Give Me Everything,” featuring Neyo and production by Grammy award winning producer Afrojack. Neyo’s smooth vocals and Pitbull’s raw raps blend perfectly over a smooth bass-heavy dance track to produce one of this summer’s hit songs. “Give Me Everything” is Pitbull’s first single to hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has been played everywhere and often in the past few months. Another single, “Hey Baby,” featuring T-Pain, is concurrently burning up the charts and peaked at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100. Planet Pit is full of songs similar to these, guaranteeing Pitbull a spot on the charts for months to come.
Planet Pit is a star-studded affair, from the production to the appearances from T-Pain, Marc Anthony, Sean Paul, Neyo, Enrique Iglesias, David Guetta and Chris Brown, just to name a few. The variation in the artists featured mirrors the diversity found on the album. “International Love” featuring Chris Brown has an r&b flavor while Marc Anthony is featured over a pounding, European dance track and Sean Paul provides vocals on a dancehall inspired reggae track. Pitbull mixes up different sounds and artists to create the perfect combination for mindless, fun dance music.
Planet Pit will not be for everyone as no traditional hip-hop or pop sounds can be found here. The album is full of shamelessly formulaic dance tracks and lyrics designed to make people dance and have a good time. Mixing up the tempos of a few of the songs also may have made the album more universal as the majority of the songs are very upbeat and up-tempo, but again, the album is for dancing so the chosen production formula makes sense.
Planet Pit does not break any new ground in the dance or euro-pop genres but it is fun dance music destined to provide the radio and nightclub with soundtracks for the coming months.