The cult of Mr Worldwide: How Pitbull started a global movement

Independent

21-02-2025

Imagine looking out at a crowd and seeing thousands of versions of yourself. That's the reality for Pitbull, aka Mr Worldwide, aka Mr 305, aka (as in, actually born as) Armando Christian Pérez, who returns to the UK stage for the first time in almost a decade this week. Stroll past The O2 on Friday 21 February and you'll see a sea of female fans adorned in bald caps, tuxedos and aviators, such is the influence of Pérez's signature garb. 'Without you there is no Pitbull,' he told his followers after they sold out the 20,000 person capacity stadium in minutes. That holds up, kind of; without his fans, there'd certainly be fewer Pitbulls, at least.
Known for his galvanising catchphrase ' dale!' (loosely translated to 'let's go!') and hits including 'Timber', featuring Kesha, 'Give Me Everything', featuring Ne-Yo, 'I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)' and 'Don't Stop the Party', the 44-year-old Cuban American rapper has sold over 25 million studio albums and over 100 million singles worldwide. He's had No 1 hits in more than 15 countries, has surpassed 14 billion YouTube views, and has 11 million adoring fans on Instagram. In a career spanning over 20 years, Pérez's global domination shows no signs of slowing down. When his Party After Dark tour hit 26 major cities across the US last year, there wasn't a single night where someone didn't show up dressed in the global superstar's image.
Content creator Milli from Liverpool, who's heading to The O2 with her sister this Friday, believes she was the first to do the bald cap trend that exploded among Pitbull fans online. Mr Worldwide himself recently reshared a video of her dancing to 'Fireball' in a tuxedo and drawn-on beard, which she filmed two years ago, to his social media accounts. 'I couldn't believe it. I was screaming,' she says. 'He's my go-to party music. So, when I saw him repost, I'm still in shock now. It's going on my CV.'
When I ask 22-year-old Milli, who has long blonde hair extensions, fake eyelashes and lip filler, why she wants to dress up as a 44-year-old bald man, she says: 'His look is so signature. You don't even have to explain who you are. For Halloween, lots of girls – myself included – we dress up but still want to look quite fit. This concert, you won't have a care in the world. You just want to have a great time with your mates.'
Pitbull grew up in Miami, dubbing himself Mr 305 in reference to the Florida city's area code. He learnt English from watching Sesame Street and spent his teen years listening to old-school hip-hop by Public Enemy, Slick Rick, Eric B & Rakim and NWA before graduating to Nas and Jay Z. In 2001, he landed his first record deal and featured on fellow Miami boy Uncle Luke's album Somethin Nasty, as well as Lil Jon and the East Side Boyz' album Kings of Crunk a year later.
Collaboration with other artists has always been the lifeblood of Pitbull's success. Mr 305's 2013 hit 'Timber' with Kesha remains the rapper's most popular single on Spotify, with 1.7 billion streams. His first UK No 1 single came in April 2011 through an appearance on J.Lo's party-starter 'On the Floor'. And his second chart-topper came just one month later with his club anthem 'Give Me Everything', featuring Ne-Yo, Afrojack and Nayer, from his star-studded sixth album, Planet Pit.
Jessica, a 31-year-old Jessica from Glasgow, first got into Pitbull on her girls' holiday to the Greek party destination of Malia in 2011. ''Give Me Everything' was the song of the summer,' she remembers. 'Pitbull was on [the speakers] everywhere.' Cut to 2025 and Jessica, who works in a hospital as a radiographer by day, is heading to The O2 in a bald cap and tuxedo alongside the same friends she partied with in Greece 14 years ago.
'If you want to feel good about yourself, want to party and just want to have a good time, put Pitbull on and he'll make you feel like that right away,' she says of Mr Worldwide's mystifyingly enduring appeal. 'Working in a hospital, I have good days and bad days. Sometimes, when I'm stressed, I put a wee bit of Pitbull on in the car and it's like 'Right, OK. Tomorrow's another day. You'll be fine.''
TikTok has adopted Pitbull as something of a modern philosopher in recent times. Despite having an air of Mr Motivator about them, his 2014 'Time of Our Lives' lyrics: 'This for everybody going through tough times / Believe me, been there, done that / But every day above ground is a great day, remember that,' have become a mantra for modern women battling every inconvenience of life – from acne to bad dates. 'You can't be sad when you're listening to Pitbull… that's just a fact,' says 29-year-old Esther from London, who started listening to Mr Worldwide during her year abroad in Sweden in 2017 and paid £100 for a standing ticket at The O2 this Friday. She credits the rapper's '9 to 5' remix 'Powerful Women', which he released with Dolly Parton in 2024, as pulling her out of her most 'truly dreadful' days at work.
'Also, once I went on a date with a guy who didn't know who Pitbull was,' she adds. 'And I wouldn't say that was the only reason we didn't see each other again but I think it was a major red flag.'
Pitbull released a slew of rap albums: M.I.A.M.I. in 2004, El Mariel in 2006, and The Boatlift in 2007; but it wasn't until Mr Worldwide rebranded as a pop artist with Pitbull Starring in Rebelution in 2009 that he broke the UK. Two singles from the record, 'I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)' and 'Hotel Room Service', peaked at number four and number nine in the UK Top 10 chart, respectively. Addressing accusations he 'sold out' by departing from the rap scene in an interview with Vanity Fair in 2016, Pitbull replied: 'They're right. I did sell out. I sell out arenas. I sell out stadiums… all around the world.'
Hannah*, a 24-year-old from London, once threw a Pitbull house party complete with a life-size cardboard cutout of Mr 305 when she was a uni student. She was among thousands of devastated fans left without tickets to the European leg of the Party After Dark Tour after the rapper opted to do only one night in Dublin, London, Paris, Amsterdam and Cologne. Yet, despite her disappointment, to Hannah and the other women I've spoken to, Pitbull is for ever. 'I actually think his discography is unmatched,' she claims. 'I refuse to believe there are people that aren't Pitbull fans. There's no one that wouldn't bop about when his songs come on … High key, his lyrics are inspirational … I'm not sure if I am more gutted that I don't get to see Pitbull or that I don't get to dress up in a bald cap,' she admits. 'Because that just seems quite liberating.'
Seemingly, Pitbull has stuck around because he makes people feel happy and free. His commitment to partying is unparalleled (aside from maybe some competition from Charli XCX) and his discography has never been darkened by a downbeat ballad. One yell of ' dale! ' is enough to have half a nightclub on its feet. 'Every single one of his songs is a banger,' says Milli. 'The vibe just uplifts you. He's going to be popular for ever.'
'I think even our kids will remember his songs,' she adds, when asked if the jig will ever be up. 'So, if you don't know Pitbull, you need to get to know.'
*Name has been changed