Pitbull

Pitbull's "Global Warming" (Handout / November 20, 2012)

By Mikael Wood

November 20, 2012, 6:00 a.m.
Last year this Cuban American MC installed himself as the commander of a worldwide dance-rap scene with "Planet Pit," which spawned a series of club-ready hits featuring the likes of Marc Anthony ("Rain Over Me"), Chris Brown ("International Love") and Ne-Yo (the Hot 100-topping "Give Me Everything"). Having evidently found leadership to his liking, Pitbull is now seeking a second term.

"Don't stop the party!" he barks not long into his new album, and the rest of "Global Warming" gives you little opportunity to consider other options. It's an all-night rager as envisioned by the planet's best-dressed autocrat.

What makes Pitbull's rule tolerable is his goofy shamelessness. Though the approach here precisely mirrors that on "Planet Pit" — think big beats and bigger cameos — he's using his increased power to venture even more daringly beyond the limits of good taste. In "Have Some Fun" he and guests the Wanted riff on "All I Wanna Do" by Sheryl Crow, while "Feel This Moment" (with Christina Aguilera) turns A-ha's '80s synth-pop curio "Take on Me" into the stuff of a Las Vegas bachelorette bash. The title track is bolder still: It opens the album with the unmistakable keyboard pulse of Los del Rio's 1996 novelty smash "Macarena."

Pitbull

"Global Warming"

(RCA)

2 1/2 stars

 

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