PITBULL PERFORMS AT THE IPL!
For those that don’t know, IPL stands for Indian Premier League (not Intense Pulse Light!) For me and I imagine a lot of us, it also stands for Inimitable Pitbull Legend and I was in awe when I heard Pitbull was going to perform at the Indian cricket tournament in Kolkata which is now running in it’s sixth season.
Word on the street is that once invited, it only took Pitbull a matter of minutesto agree to perform at the IPL which is a LOT MORE TIME THAN it took for me to park my culo in the best seat in the house at the ‘IPL Opening Ceremony Party’ around the big TV screen hosted by pretty much most of the blokes in the family, extended family and whoever else likes cricket living within a five mile radius! Yes, incase you haven’t figured it out yet although born and raised in the UK, my roots are Indian. So I get asked “Err WHY are YOU sitting here watching the IPL?…You don’t watch cricket!” Eventually, they tweaked the reason why I gate crashed the Cobra Beer ‘n’ samosa party, as my sixty year old uncle exclaimed in his accent “OOOH LOOK! Your Peeet-bull is on tele…haavay khaabar padi! ” (Translation: Oh because Pitbull is on! Now we know why you sitting here hogging the seat, drinking our beer & nibbling on our grub and after he has finished performing p*** off and leave us to it!)
Pitbull opened up so very appropriately rapping away “Why you think they call me Mr Worldwide?” Enough said! What is it Pit says? “Don’t talk about it, be about it” And he is definitely BEING Mr Worldwide and reaching audiences as far as Kolkata. The guy is back in India where they love him so affectionately. True to himself yet again and as his lyrics go in Sexy People ‘That’s why all opportunities…me lo como -I eat ’em!’ I’m guessing that when Pitbull hears King Khan of Bollywood and co-owner of Kolkata Knight Riders, Shah Rukh Khan (SRK) caaalllliiing..He must have heard his inner Indian spirit faaaalling and jumped on a jet to India!
Breaking into Hey Baby soon after, I don’t think even DJ Chino could contain his excitement at performing in the city of dreams and was caught out many times by the cameras during Pit’s performance gleaming, smiling and delightfully punching his hand the air to the sounds whilst taking care of the tracks of course. It was really enjoyable to watch Chino and the rest of the team on stage enjoying themselves, bringing the stage alive and refreshing to see the cameras getting more shots of all The Agents too and giving them the time, close ups and credits that they too deserve – Yea we see you Papayo, Jorge, David, Leo and you too Omar happily drumming away! Happy Birthday!
The Agents go into an incredible build up with what sounded like a Lenny Kravitz style ‘are you goin my way’ intro before going into a Pitbull version if Sexy and you now it! You guys are awesome, I wish I was there to hear the sounds in the raw. I salute you!
They say ‘like attracts like’ and there are many entrepreneurial similarities between King Khan, Kat and Pit. SRK is a very talented and successful Bollywood actor and is also a bit like Pitbull in that his focus also on other angles and revenue streams other than his core career, and you see him everywhere from films, as a brand ambassador on television, billboards and other media vehicles. King Khan has numerous powerful brand endorsements under his belt such as Hyundai, Nokia, Tag Heur and more recently as an ambassador for mango drink Frooti. Bollywood beauty Katrina Kaif is also no stranger to endorsements such as Lux and KODAK! (Snap! Pitbull!) And Pitbull? Well I don’t need to go through his empire with you as you already know!
Make no mistake, Pitbull is no stranger to India and India is also no stranger to Pitbull. Pit had a concert there a few years back. But further back then that, I remember going clubbing in India 2005 for the first time in Enigma expecting bog standard commercial music. Hell No! I heard most of Pitbull’s M.I.A.M.I hits back to back, and this is all BEFORE YOU COULD HEAR ANY PITBULL SONG IN THE LONDON CLUBS! I was in my element, as my friends who stood on the sidelines watching me dance away whilst mouthing the lyrics word for word, as they clutched at their drinks and shook their heads saying “You do know we ain’t gonna be able to get her out of this club now, don’t you?”
Let’s all salute the World Wide Party starter, party sustainer, party leader!
Dale! EEEeeyOW!