El Mariel : Pitbull : Review : Rolling Stone

Few rappers can rock a Latin-flavored club beat as well as Cuban-American MC Pitbull. With a slick bilingual flow, he mambos toe-to-toe with the Neptunes' conga-based track on "Jealouso"; on "Ay Chico (Lengua Afuera)," Mr. Collipark's timbale-infused beat forms the perfect backdrop to 'Bull's crass shout-along: "Bend over, girl, show me what you workin' with." It's only when the limber MC slows things down that his limp lyricism jumps to the fore, as on "Blood Is Thicker Than Water" and "Jungle Fever," with a buzz-killing Wyclef Jean. Pitbull gained fame with crunk club bangers "Culo" and "Toma," both produced by Lil' Jon (who returns on a couple of tracks that sound a lot like the old ones). Pitbull also admirably tries to broaden his message, naming the album after the notorious 1980 boatlift that brought thousands of Cubans to Miami, and dedicating the album to "Cubans losin' life over Fidel's mentality." But his hot flow and ice-cold lyrics are better served in the club.