The Bite Magazine - Spring 2016 - Issue 15

From being kicked out at the age of 16 to now an artist, businessman and ambassador for young kids, Samantha Morgan discovers how Pitbull conquered the world through his music and seven year global plan. bitemusicceleb I t sometimes takes a parent’s extreme tough love to make a huge difference to their child’s life.This is exactly what happened toArmando Christian Perez aka Pitbull at the age of 16 when his mother Alysha Acosta kicked him out of the family home for dealing drugs. “My mom goes to me, ‘I don’t want to see you until you figure out what you’re going to do,’” he told People en Espanol maga- zine. “It wasn’t that she scolded me and was punishing me, it was more like giving me freedom to make that choice, and it woke me up.” His mother’s actions paid off as the Cuban-American artist eventu- ally sorted out his life and mapped out a career plan that has made him an inter- national superstar. Pitbull contributes his personal and professional success to his mother. “That woman made me a man. She taught me how to survive, and I want to teach my kids that. Why? Because I don’t want them to feel like they’ve got to live in my shadow.” There is never a dull moment when Pitbull is around. His catchy hooks on tracks such as ‘On The Floor’ with Jen- nifer Lopez, ‘DJ Got Us Falling in Love’ with Usher, ‘Timber’ with Ke$ha and ‘Give Me Everything’ with Ne-Yo, Afro- jack and Nayer is bound to get any party started. Often asked the reason behind his stage name, the sharply dressed rapper says he chose the name because pit bulls “bite to lock” and “they’re basi- cally everything that I am.” It is one of the reasons he has succeeded against the odds. “I like the hunt; I like when people say you can’t, you won’t, you never will. Those kinds of things turn me on.” Pitbull became known as ‘Mr. 305’ which repre- sents his hometown: Miami’s area code after the release of his single,‘I KnowYou Want Me’ and is now called Mr.World- wide. He said, “If you don’t know where you’re from, you don’t know where you’re going. Believe me I know where I’m from.