What’s new from Pitbull & Calvin Harris

Summer is just around the corner. The school term is ending. It is party season. So we need party sounds. Besides, it cannot be denied that Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars have already put everybody in a happy, dancing mood with their huge hit Uptown Funk! But one party tune is not enough for the goodtime die-hards. 

So if you out there want to check out other fun sounds, then I say you make sure you check out Globalization. This is the latest album by Pitbull, and you know how Pitbull is. Remember I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho) or Hey Baby (Drop It To The Floor) or better yet the greatest party anthem of them all, On The Floor with Jennifer Lopez? This over-the-top seller became Pitbull’s biggest hit and brought J.Lo back to the top of the charts.

Pitbull is Armando Christian Perez, a child of Cuban immigrants born in Miami, Florida. So, it is a given that Pitbull was born with Latin music pulsating in his veins. Add to this the fact that he grew up with Miami pop around him and you get an incredible formula for fiery dance music. Pitbull chose to do his with rap and he proved to be so good at it that he soon caught the attention of popular rapper Lil Jon.

A rap in Lil John’s album, Kings of Crunk, got him asked to do bigger gigs. And when Lil Jon produced the single Culo for Pitbull’s album debut M.I.A.M.I. the names of his collaborators got even bigger Ying Yang Twins, Twista, Pretty Ricky and others. There was no question anymore that the kid who grew up memorizing Cuban poetry was destined to become a big star.

The hit albums came one after another. Rebelution, Planet Pit, Armando, Global Warming and the names after that featuring credit got even bigger. Give Me Everything with Ne-Yo, Afrojack and Nayer, Get It Started with Shakira, Feel This Moment with Christina Aguilera, Timber with Kesha and so many more. 

 Pitbull is up against stiff, multiple competition nowadays. Calvin Harris, David Guetta, Tiesto and others are also up there with dance tunes and generating stellar collaborations, too. But just like the dog breed whose name he chose to adopt, the Pitbull, he is out there in full strength, not wanting to let go.

His latest Globalization has Pitbull at his best with such a wide variety of rhythms. The guy has no fear at all. He takes on anything, salsa, pop, house and imprints them with his own style. Dance non-stop to Fireball featuring John Ryan, to Celebrate from the soundtrack of Penguins of Madagascar and most notably to his sexy repeat collab with Ne-Yo, Time Of Our Lives. There are also We Are One, the Official 2014 FIFA World Cup song featuring Jennifer Lopez and Brazilian pop star Claudia Leitte; Ah Leke feat. Sean Paul; Fun feat. Chris Brown; and others.

And while we are on the subject, you might as well give a listen to Motion by the Grammy-winning artist and producer who hails from Scotland, Calvin Harris. This guy, who once roamed the streets of London, jobless, is now as Forbes Magazine says, the highest paid DJ in the world. He has already done four albums and he still has to make a bad one. I remember listening to him for the first time and wondering how on earth he was able to get one commercial tune after another in one album. And with such big stars, too.

No wonder then that his last release 18 Months is often described as a greatest hits collection or a various artists’ compilation with music by Harris. It had big sellers in We Found Love feat. Rihanna; Let’s Go with Ne-Yo; Feels So Close; I Need Your Love; Thinking About You with Ayah Marar, I Need You with Ellie Goulding and the sweetest of them all, Sweet Nothing featuring Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine.

Calvin’s latest is Motion. He is still in the 18 Months mood, which means that the music here, a mixture of dance, dub step and electronica does not really present anything new. That also means though that the album is just as commercial. You can simply pop this on the player and listen as that good times, summer feeling gets bigger and deeper with every song.

 Blame featuring John Newman is the easy standout. But I will not discount the possibility that Pray To God featuring Haim could be a great single. Then, there are Summer and Faith, two cuts where Harris, the vocalist is heard again. He is very good and should really sing more often. But then given the number of stars around so eager to be featured in his albums singing a Calvin Harris song, that has become quite difficult to do.

Also good among those included are Under Control with Alesso featuring Hurts; Outside with Ellie Goulding, Ecstasy featuring Hurts; Together with Gwen Stefani; and Open Wide with Big Sean.