An Exclusive interview with Nakia Hill

New York (RushPRnews)11/25/08-Yo! Raps touched base Cuban American rapper Pitbull and had an interested conversation about his new album Rebulution, his issue with former record label TVT, Cuban’s President Fidel Castro, Latin American revolutionist Hugo Chavez and more. Listening to a hip-hop record and having a conversation with an artist are two separate experiences within themselves. One experience allows the listener to formulate their own assumptions and the other experience answers all unanswered questions. Watching rappers get crunk in videos will lead the ignorant consumer to believe that the person you see on TV and hear on the radio is who that artist truly is. Lil Jon’s boy Cuban American hip hop artist Pitbull has proven the notion of judging a book by its cover false because this rebulutionaire obtains more artistry and intellect than the eye beholds.

“As far as politics I’ve always been big on politics pretty much on every one of my albums because me being Cuban American I’ve been born politically incorrect,” says Pitbull.

Who would have thought Mr. 305 had more knowledge on politics than the United States of America’s ex presidential candidate McCain.

In addition to an abundance of political knowledge Armando Christian Perez is building a heavy resume for himself by launching his own social networking site www.planetpit.com, his own reality show “La Esquina” on the latino network Mun2, involvement in the organization Voto Latino, and the making of his upcoming album Rebulution which is expected to be released summer 2009.

In your own words, tell us who is Pitbull?

Indescribable.

So, what genre would you place your music in?

I mean to be honest with you I wouldn’t even be involved with Reggaeton like that. I would say hip-hop, but to be honest with you I can just say the genre of music.

I know you changed record labels, what was the issue with that?

What happen with TVT was we beat them in court and I got out of that situation because TVT went bankrupt. As far as the label right now, I’m independent and I’m dealing with a company called the Orchard, which is an online single deal with them for the record Krazy.

How is being an independent artist working out for you?

For me I’ve been incarcerated for the last 4 or 5 years over at TVT and I didn’t get a chance to take my career to the next level because of the problems that the President of TVT had with every other label. I wasn’t able to get on certain records and a lot of my records wouldn’t make air – you know a lot of internal shit. Now that I’m basically free, I’m definitely going to have a lot of fun this year.

So, you have a lot of things going on including the Voto Latino. How did you become down with that?

I’ve been involved since it started, but I got into it when I had felony charges and I wasn’t able to vote. So, Voto Latino is basically trying to reach out to people that have made the wrong decisions and has learned from it and to also let them know that it is very important and powerful to vote. Especially being a minority and also being the majority of the minority and we need to make sure we get out there and take full advantage of what our parents couldn’t do. So, if their first generation, second generation Hispanics they can be anything they want to be now.

Great! Let’s talk about your upcoming album. When is it expected to be released?

Summer 2009 and the name of the album is gonna be Rebulution.

What artists are you working with or expecting to work with?

I have about three singles including Krazy, and I have another one on the way with Machel Montano and Lil Jon.

Can you talk about the album a little bit?

Well, right now we’re in the beginning stages of making the album. As far as this album right here I never got a chance to give the public a classic album at TVT. It’s always going to be a grind and there’s always going to be a hustle and now I have a chance to really put 150 percent effort and dedication into an album.

So, what are the steps that you are taking to make Rebulution a classic album? Because since the beginning of your career you have worked with a wide range of artists such as Machel Montano who is a huge Soca artist and just working with him makes an album classic within itself.

Like I was saying I don’t stick to one genre, I just do music. I’m all about energy and all about vibes. The way I hook up with someone like Machel Montano is because we’re both international artists and we first hooked up in Belgium. I went down and did the Trinidad carnival with him and he sold out two shows in one night. So, he’s very humbled and honestly him being from an island and my roots are from an island we have a lot of things in common, but I think that’s the way I hook up with everybody because I’m always on the road and it’s an international thing. I’m all over the place and my music has given me a chance to go inside of those means. As far as making it classic to me making it classic is looking back at classics such as Illmatic, Ready To Die, Chronic, Doggystyle, Reasonable Doubt. When I listen to those records I ask myself, “What made those albums a classic? What made people go out and buy the album and listen to it until it ride out?” That makes it a whole lot harder for me now because I’m dealing with a society that has, shit ADD times a hundred. So, what about this record when you hear it is going to intrigue you? Already, for me it’s a perfect time because there are so many things to talk about that are going on in the world. For example, on the record Krazy even though it’s a fun record and it’s big enough for the clubs and it will get you jumping and help you get loose, but at the same time I try to throw political things in there, but feed it to them by putting the rice and meat over the lettuce like you do to kids when you want them to eat it and that’s basically what I’m doing with my music. Like on the second verse of Krazy I be like, “Iraq no war, U.S. no Bush, Cuba no Castro” and it’s certain things that I’m shooting at them and basically on this album I’m going to elaborate a whole lot on my life that I haven’t spoke about yet. Lil Jon is definitely going to be on this album! I want to be able to capture the moment, so while I’m making the album I want to go to the Dominican Republic and just hide out for three months and just make music that way I don’t have to deal with bullshit in the United States of America.

So, what are some things that you want to get off your chest on the Rebulution album?

As far as politics I’ve always been big on politics on pretty every one of my albums because me being Cuban American I’ve been born politically incorrect. So, politics has always been a big, big part of my life as far as the politics in Cuba and also the United States of America. Now I can speak about politics on this album and people will know what I’m talking about because this election has been historical to the point where everyone is tuning in to see what’s going on. Barack Obama has become so motivational and inspirational and like an iconic figure. He’s like the new Bob Marley! Everyone is wearing t-shirts [with his face on them] and he’s so big that the kids are paying attention to what he’s talking about and now that means when I say something on a record their going to know what I’m talking about. It’s not like the Bush administration – and we knew that he was fucking robbing us blind and everything that he’s been doing to this country, which is something that’s been going on for years. The people would just sit and watch him talk because they knew as soon as they turned on the television and heard him say about four words they would be like, “Oh, this is bullshit! I can’t believe this muthaf*cker is the President of our country!” and they go and flip the channel. So, now the youth is paying more attention and that’s going to allow me to put it on record and their going to listen to it.

Can you shed some light on the current state of Cuba’s government?

As far as what’s going on in Cuba right now is all up in the air and it all depends on what President gets in and if they lift the embargo and if Cuba’s going to agree, we really don’t know. One thing I do know is Castro is dead. Castro has been dead for about three years and when he gave that power off to his brother I think that was when they started acting like he was alive, but he’s been dead. As far as his brother he’s something that we have to watch he can be very conniving, but the person that we really have to watch in Latin America is Hugo Chavez.

That’s interesting that you mentioned Hugo Chavez because I’ve noticed a lot of people rocking t-shirts with his face on it.

Yeah, people want to be revolutionists, when you speak to the people that live in these countries, revolution looks great in the books and on TV it just doesn’t work within a society. Revolution equals communism, which is saying, “Your gonna have a house, he’s gonna have a house, and your gonna have a house.” So, you mean to tell me if I work my ass off more than my next door neighbor and me and him are gonna have the same shit just don’t make no sense. So, it’s real funny when I see that type of shit and people wearing t-shirts because they really don’t know what their wearing.

You have a lot going on including your own social networking site, reality show on Mun2, and the new album. Talk a little bit about your television network Mun2.

Mun2 is a growing network that started off with 6 million viewers and now it’s up to 24 million on Comcast. Mun2 is like a young bilingual MTV and by dealing with this network I’m trying to be what Madonna was to MTV, they helped each others career. As far as me doing a television show with them it’s called, The Corner pronounced in Spanish La Esquina and on this show I touch up on all the topics that I feel are hot on TV, that are relevant, and eye catching. So, on this show I did the election and I ask the question, “What’s the difference between a party and a democrat?’ But at the same time with a twist of humor, so the kids will be laughing and learning at the same time.

Besides music and entertainment, what does Pitbull enjoy doing when he’s not getting Krazy?

I enjoy hanging out with the family. I like getting a chance to see my mother, grandmother, and aunt. So, for me it’s important to see my kids grow up together, play together, learn new things, and to me all of that means the world.

How’s your relationship with Lil Jon

Jon’s like a brother. I call him my Cuban brother. Jon has been one of those cats that are really rare to find in the game that are loyal and that will be there through thick and thin and understand the visionary and they see what the future holds. He’s here for the marathon and not the sprint and unfortunately a lot of this game is monkey see, monkey do and they don’t carve out their own name. A lot of artists want to do what other people are doing and the artists you see on the television who look to see who has the biggest chain on or got the biggest piece, or rims, and no one talks about who got the biggest bank account. It’s unfortunate that it’s smokey mirrors and a facade of what’s going on in hip-hop. That’s why you saw me do so many records with Jon when I was down with TVT because that was a survival pact. I’m gonna keep you out there, if you keep me out there that was the only way we were gonna survive. When I was with TVT I seen it as 4 years of the School of Hard knocks music 1 on 1 University. I took it, I absorbed it, analyzed it, and now I’m gonna apply it with Jon right next to me [laughter].