From the 305 to Hollywood's Walk of Fame!
Armando Christian Pérez, better known as Pitbull, received the 2,584th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame this Friday. The ceremony was filled with fans and three people that were essential to the Miami native's life; Luther "Uncle Luke" Campbell, Tony Robbins and Lil Jon. The star is located on Celia Cruz square, Cruz is one of Pitbull's idols.
As mentioned at the ceremony, Pitbull has 9 billion YouTube Vevo views, 70 million single sales, 6 million album sales, and his social media presence speaks to nearly 90 million people daily. No easy feat. It seems that Pitbull himself felt that it was surreal, and as Tony Robbins described, he beat the odds. "I'd like to honor a young boy Armando, because he's who built Mr. World Wide. A young boy who was a first-generation Cuban American in Miami's Little Havana. In a community that is stressed, in a community where often the most respected people sell drugs. His life could've been completely different, in fact, should've been based on the law of averages," Robbins said. "He's a man where somewhere inside he's got so much love for people that he couldn't hurt anyone. At 17, he did the most important thing that any of us could do, he decided what is life was going to be about. He decided to leave the idea of selling drugs and see how he could light people up with something much more powerful; his music, his heart, his soul, and he's done that."
Pitbull's mother introduced the Robbins' program to him at a young age, the motivator explained, "So she played him my audio programs all the time in the car, I think he was irritated initially, but he learned to love them. I'd love to say that he's given me so much credit for shaping him. I didn't shape this man. He went out and got it. He went out and made it happen. I'm just privileged to be a small and tiny part." Robbins spoke on how who Pitbull is behind the music, "You go down to Little Havana and there is no one that he won't stop for. The way he treats a waiter, the way he treats the guy that grabs his car. He brings love, joy and passion to every soul to every moment that you could be around this man. I went down to see his SLAM institute where he's got sports, leadership and management. He's always giving back to his community and he's never forgotten about his roots," Robbins said. "He's making sure that more Armandos have opportunities for the future, their own version of it."
Uncle Luke remembered the beginning of Pitbull's career and said, "When I first met him, the first thing he said was, 'All I want to do is take care of my mama.' And that to me was very important, because I know that is dear to his heart." The 2 Live Crew member recalled the days when he took Pitbull all over Miami and had him rap against the biggest rappers of the city and that's how he earned the respect of his hometown.
Once it was Pitbull's turn to speak, things got emotional. "I use these platforms to speak to you all and for you all to understand that for me it's never been about money, it's never been about fame—It's been about a journey. And that journey being that it's about our culture. It's about coming from nothing to something," the star said. "It's about being the prime example of what the American dream is and what it embodies."
Just as we expected, Pitbull thanked his family, but he explained that all though he keeps his six children from the spotlight, it doesn't mean that he doesn't love them. "There are people in my life that I love and I keep out of the public eye, I guess you could call it being selfish, because I don't want them to be a part of the life I signed up for, but I love them dearly."
After he thank everyone, the "Timber" singer wanted to use this moment to motivate all of those witnessing the ceremony. "To be up here it just goes to show what happens when you're focused, when you work hard, when you believe in yourself, and when you go against all odds," he said. "And if there's on thing I never understood it's no. Losing to me is just another opportunity and failure to me is just another lesson learned."
There is one thing about Pitbull that we love....he doesn't forget where he's from. He is constantly talking about his loved city of Miami. "So to be here and go from, La Sawesera, La Pequeña Habana, Wynwood, Hialeah, Opa-Locka, Carol City, Liberty City, Allapattah...I mean all these different neighborhoods and to be able to be here in Hollywood getting a star—it's priceless," he said.
The biggest thank you Pitbull gave was to his mother, which he says taught him the most important thing. "I want to say thank you to my mother because she taught me one thing, it's the most important thing in life, she taught me how to survive," he said. "To teach them how to go against all odds and see that nothing could stop them as long as they believe in themselves and do right by others."
Then the star switched over to Spanish and spoke about the hard work and sacrifice that Latinos do to help the future of their families. "Of having the liberty of going forward in life, and because there are people out there that spoke s—t at the end of the day, and they don't know what our struggle is and they don't know what it's like to come from nothing," he said. "Especially coming from a family that came to this country without knowing the language, they didn't know anything…but they fought and always kept moving forward. But when people talk crap about us Latinos and they know nothing...they need to shut up."
Mr. World Wide promises that he's just getting started, and we can't see what he'll do next.
Congrats, Pitbull!