Pitbull

Miami runs through everything Armando Christian Pérez does. Born there in 1981 to Cuban immigrant parents, he learned English from Sesame Street, absorbed Miami bass alongside Celia Cruz, Willy Chirino, Nas, Jay-Z and Snoop Dogg, and chose the name Pitbull for a dog he saw as too stubborn to lose and outlawed in Dade County. He started out in the early 2000s as a reggaeton, Latin hip-hop and crunk performer, then reshaped himself as a pop artist, working as rapper, singer, songwriter and actor.

His debut, M.I.A.M.I. (2004), came out on TVT with Lil Jon as executive producer. The breakthrough followed with Pitbull Starring in Rebelution (2009), home to "I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)", which reached number two on the Hot 100. "Give Me Everything", from Planet Pit (2011), gave him a first chart-topper, and "Timber", with Kesha, repeated the feat and peaked at number one in 18 other countries. In 2014 he performed "We Are One (Ole Ola)", the official theme of that year's FIFA World Cup. Dale (2015) won a Grammy, Libertad 548 (2019) was his first independent release, and Trackhouse arrived in 2023.