Pitbull Inks Development Deal with Endemol North America

Posted on January 30, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Pitbull is ready to branch out beyond music…

The 33-year-old Cuban American rap superstar, who will be performing the official World Cup song with Jennifer Lopez and Claudia Leitte, has agreed to an exclusive overall deal with Endemol North America to develop and produce original content for television and digital platforms.

The digital aspect of the “Timber” singer’s deal, which was announced at NATPE, also entails a Pitbull channel on the newly launched Endemol Beyond.

The latter, a new global venture, will look to create a premium network of international and local channels across platforms such as YouTube, Yahoo and AOL. As part of the pact, Pitbull and his manager, Latium Entertainment CEO Charles Chavez, will executive produce fare.

“The U.S. Hispanic consumer and gigantic global stars like Pitbull have been the underpinning for the major Latin music and cultural influences in the U.S. and around the world. By offering the support, global infrastructure and reach for television and digital that only Endemol can provide, we look forward to the output and to the multitude of possibilities that this collaboration will generate,” said Endemol N.A. co-CEO Cris Abrego.

Added fellow CEO Charlie Corwin, who has actively looked to beef up the company’s brand roster since taking the reins of the company months earlier: “Combining Pitbull’s already massive global presence with our Endemol Beyond digital dream team and our creative scripted and unscripted teams in a first of its kind deal will give us an opportunity to create ground-breaking content across all media.”

The news comes as Pitbull’s latest breakout, “Timber,” sits atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the third consecutive week. The musician-turned-entrepreneur’s career sales exceed 5 million albums and 50 million singles worldwide, and he boasts No. 1 hits in more than 15 countries.

Pitbull to Record Official World Cup Song with J.Lo and Claudia Leitte

Posted on January 23, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Pitbull is officially becoming one with Jennifer Lopez and Claudia Leitte this World Cup season.

FIFA and Sony Music have named “We Are One (Ole Ola)” by the 33-year-old Cuban American rap superstar, featuring J.Lo and Brazilian singer Leitte, as the official song for the 2014 World Cup soccer tournament, which gets underway on June 12 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

The track will be released by Sony in the coming months and performed at the World Cup opening ceremony. A video for “We Are One (Ole Ola)” is also being planned.

“I truly believe that this great game and the power of music will help unify us,” Pitbull said during an official announcement Thursday at the Macarena Stadium in Rio de Janeiro. “Because we are best when we are one.”

FIFA General Secretary Jérôme Valcke emphasized the participation of Leitte, a well-known Brazilian pop singer and judge on The Voice Brasil.

“FIFA and Sony Music are extremely excited to share the impressive talent of Claudia Leitte with the world alongside such internationally celebrated artists as Pitbull and Jennifer Lopez,” Valcke said. “In my many visits to this country I’ve seen and heard a lot about the great Brazilian music tradition and it gives me great pleasure to see a Brazilian artist at the heart of this song. I’m sure, like me, millions of football and music fans all over the world will be eagerly awaiting the song’s release.”

Leitte said she was looking forward to dancing samba with Pitbull and Jennifer Lopez.

Pitbull’s latest single “Timber” featuring Ke$ha is currently the No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, where the Miami rapper holds a career total of nine top 10s and two No. 1s.

He and Lopez have recorded three previous collaborations, most recently “Live it Up,” a single from JLo’s upcoming album. 2011’s “On The Floor” spent three weeks in the top ten.

Pitbull has sold 2,827,000 albums to date in the U.S., according to SoundScan. Like JLo, he is reportedly preparing a new album for release this year.

Although further details on the song are yet to be revealed, it can be expected to include English, Spanish and Portuguese lyrics, and, particularly given Pitbull’s track record of global hits, will likely be a goal for the artists, FIFA and FIFA partner Sony.

The last FIFA World Cup song, 2010’s “Waka Waka” by Shakira with South African group Freshly Ground, has sold 1,7400,000 digital downloads to date. This week it is No. 2 on the Latin Digital Songs chart, where it spent 42 weeks at No. 1. The video has been viewed almost 600 million times on YouTube.

“We Are One” could be the third World Cup hit by Latin stars. In addition to Shakira’s smash, Ricky Martin’s “The Cup of Life” (La Copa de la Vida) for the 1998 World cup in France took the bilingual singer to international stardom when the song went to No. 1 in seven countries. Martin’s performance of the song on the Grammy Awards kick-started the so-called Latin pop explosion, essentially paving the way into the mainstream for bilingual Latin artists.

Martin will also record a song for the 2014 FIFA World Cup album, chosen via a Sony-sponsored Supersong contest. The contest allowed aspiring songwriters in countries around the world to upload a recording of their own World Cup song. Submissions are now closed, and finalists are to be announced soon on the Supersong website.

Coca-Cola kicked off World Cup fever last September with its official 2014 song, “The World is Ours,” sung in English by former The X-Factor contestant David Correy.

Pitbull & Ke$ha’s “Timber” Reaches No. 1 on Billboard’s Pop Songs Chart

Posted on January 21, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Pitbull knows how to pop it likes it’s hot…

The 32-year-old Cuban American rap superstar’s latest smash “Timber,” featuring Ke$ha, has reached the summit on yet another Billboard chart.

The dancetastic track, which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early January, rose 2-1 on the Pop Songs chart this week, according to Nielsen BDS.

“Timber” marks Pitbull’s second No. 1 on the chart (among nine top 10s).

“Give Me Everything,” featuring Ne-Yo, Afrojack and Nayer, topped the tally for three weeks beginning on July 16, 2011.

The songs is Ke$ha’s fourth No. 1 on the chart (also among nine top 10s). Her debut single “TiK ToK” ruled for seven weeks in 2010, followed by “Your Love Is My Drug” (two weeks, 2010) and “Die Young” (three weeks, 2012).

“Timber” has topped the sales/airplay/streaming-based Billboard Hot 100 chart for two weeks and sold 2.5 million downloads, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Pitbull’s “Timber,” Featuring Ke$ha, Spends Second Week Atop Billboard’s Hot 100 Chart

Posted on January 16, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Pitbull continues his chart-topping ways this week…

The 32-year-old Cuban American rap superstar and Ke$ha’s dancetastic single “Timber” spends a second week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Pitbull’s second career Hot 100 No. 1 and Ke$ha’s third chart leader remains atop the Hot 100 despite not ruling any of the Hot 100’s three main component charts, Digital Songs, Radio Songs and Streaming Songs.

The continued multi-platform success of “Timber,” though, keeps the song atop the Hot 100.

It falls 1-2 after four weeks in charge of Digital Songs with 227,000 downloads sold (down 25%), according to Nielsen SoundScan. It reaches a new peak on Radio Songs (5-3), gaining by 15% to 125 million all-format audience impressions, according to Nielsen BDS. On the Streaming Songs chart, the track slips from its No. 2 highpoint to No. 3, although with a 3% gain to 5.4 million U.S. streams, according to BDS.

“Timber” concurrently spends a second week at No. 1 on the Hot Rap Songs chart.

Pitbull & Ke$ha’s “Timber” Tops the Billboard Hot 100 Chart

Posted on January 9, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Timber! Pitbull and Ke$ha have chopped down a Monster hit…

After four weeks of playing second fiddle, the 32-year-old Cuban American singer and the pop starlet have climbed to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart with their hit single “Timber,” giving Pitbull the second chart topper of his career.

The new leader had held the No. 2 spot while Eminem and featured artist Rihanna reigned for four frames with “The Monster.”

“Timber,” the No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Club Songs chart, adds the Hot 100’s top Streaming Gainer award, vaulting 6-2 on Streaming Songs with a 21% gain to 5.3 million U.S. streams, according to Nielsen BDS. It likewise lifts 6-2 on the subscription services-based On-Demand Songs chart (1.8 million, up 40%).

On Radio Songs, “Timber” returns to its No. 5 peak, from No. 6, with an 8% gain to 109 million all-format audience impressions, according to BDS.

“Timber” concurrently takes over atop Hot Rap Songs, which “Monster” had led for nine weeks.

Pitbull’s previous Billboard Hot 100 topper was “Give Me Everything” featuring Ne-Yo, Afrojack & Nayer.

Pitbull & Ke$ha’s “Timber” Reaches No. 1 on Billboard Dance Chart

Posted on January 7, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Pitbull and Ke$ha haven’t been able to dethrone Eminem and Rihanna on the Billboard Hot 100 chart… But they still have plenty of reason to dance.

The 32-year-old Cuban American singer and Ke$ha’s high octane collaboration “Timber” has reached the No. 1 spot on this week’s Billboard’s Hot Dance Club Songs chart, which will be released on Thursday.

The track, which duo wrote and recorded during their North American tour last May and June, was released on October 7, 2013 as the lead single from Pitbull’s second EP, Meltdown.

“Timber” has topped the charts in 10 countries including Sweden, Canada, Norway, Scotland, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Austria and Germany and has peaked at No. 1 on the Hot 100. And the catchy song’s official music video, complete with donkeys, roosters and sexy line dancers, has registered more than 54.5 million views on VEVO.

It’s Pitbull’s latest dance-chart-topper…

His other dance hits include his three collaborations with Jennifer Lopez, “On The Floor,” “Dance Again” and “Live It Up.” His other No. 1 dance songs include “International Love” with Chris Brown and the remix to Enrique Iglesias’ “I Like How It Feels.”

Meanwhile, Pitbull’s collaboration with Christina Aguilera “Feel This Moment” peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Dance/Electronic Songs chart.

Gomez Among the Artists Featured on “PopLove 2 (2013)” Mashup

Posted on January 6, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Selena Gomez breaks it down and drops it low in the latest mashup of last year’s most dancetastic songs…

A snippet of the 21-year-old half-Mexican American singer/actress’ song “Slow Down,” from her chart-topping album Stars Dance, is featured in Robin Skouteris’ “PopLove 2 (2013),” the ultimate mix of the past year.

But Gomez isn’t the only Latino/a artist featured in the nearly ten-minute long mashup.

Bruno Mars’ “Locked Out of Heaven” and Pitbull’s collaboration with Ke$ha “Timber” are among the tracks featured in the entertaining mega-mix.

“I mixed 56 hits I liked this year and here is the result,” writes the remixer/DJ on his Facebook page.

Other artists featured include Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, Rihanna, Lady Gaga and Ellie Goulding.

Click here to see Skouteris’ “PopLove (2012)” mashup.

Pitbull to Host the 2013 American Music Awards

Posted on November 6, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

Pitbull is ready to show you he’s the host with the most…

The 32-year-old Cuban American rap/pop superstar has been named as the host of the 2013 American Music Awards.

Pitbull will also perform his new single “Timber” alongside Ke$ha at the ceremony, which will be held at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles and be broadcast on ABC beginning at 8:00 pm ET.

“I am truly honored to be hosting the 2013 American Music Awards,” says Pitbull in a press statement. “The night is only about one thing fun! So buckle and get ready. Dále!”

Pitbull and Ke$ha join previously announced AMAs performers Miley Cyrus, Imagine Dragons, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Luke Bryan, Kendrick Lamar, Florida Georgia Line and One Direction.

The “Give Me Everything” singer will be the show’s first host since 2008.

On last week’s Billboard Hot 100 chart, “Timber” climbed 11 spots to a new peak at No. 35.

The collaboration between the recent touring partners follows Pitbull’s 2012 album Global Warming, which included the singles “Don’t Stop The Party,” “Get It Started” and “Feel This Moment“; Pitbull performed the latter track alongside Christina Aguilera at the 2013 Billboard Music Awards last May.

Hispanically Yours

Celebrating the Latino Influence

Tag Archives: Timber