Music
Plus One
The 11 Best Pitbull Songs
Ahead of his headline slot at BST Hyde Park 2026, we ranked Mr. Worldwide's 11 best songs
Pitbull is all-encompassing. The Miami-raised Cuban American rapper has been at the forefront of pop culture for what feels like a lifetime – or at least, my lifetime. As a 29-year-old Zillennial, Pitbull’s music has permeated throughout my childhood. From watching MTV to the early days of going to clubs for the first time, to now; soundtracking the nostalgic playlists in generic cocktail bar chains like Be At One or Slug & Lettuce. It feels like every chapter of my life corresponds to a Pitbull song, which is no small feat.
One may look down on the fans in bald caps and aviators, the post-2008 recession EDM tracks that play in H&M changing rooms, and the somewhat cheesy positivity the he touts during his shows, “Life is not a waste of time. And time is not a waste of life…Let’s not waste any time and get wasted tonight.” (Guardian, 2025) But to be able to capture the escapism every generation seeks through fortified party-ready hits for over 20 years is a skill that even some of the biggest stars in music long for. Pitbull’s monthly listeners on Spotify surpass even Beyoncé with over 57 million listeners as of December 2025. The rapper even has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Pitbull is ubiquitous. Pitbull is pop culture.
Ahead of his summer shows in 2026, including a headline slot at BST Hyde Park, we rank the 11 best Pitbull songs. ¡Dale!
11. ‘Fireball (Feat. John Ryan)’
(Globalization, 2014)
Our 11th spot goes to the 2014 flamenco-inspired single, ‘Fireball’, featuring a vocal performance from pop singer-songwriter John Ryan, known for writing One Direction hits ‘Best Song Ever’ and ‘Story of My Life’. What makes the track great is that there is no real concrete meaning for what the ‘Fireball’ in question is. The song’s producer Ricky Reed says the song is a “quasi ode to day drinking”; Pitbull said the “song’s name comes from how he sees a very beautiful woman and a sexy man as a fireball”. (Genius, 2014) Is it alcohol? Is it a party? Is it you? Whatever it is, ‘Fireball’ is the ultimate party starter and thus, the rightful song to kick off this list.
10. ‘On The Floor (Feat. Pitbull)’
(Love?, 2011)
This is technically not a Pitbull song per se, but can you truly imagine ‘On The Floor’ without lines like “back it up like a Tonka truck, dale!” or “My name ain’t Keith, but I see why you sweat me”? Exactly. Produced by the era-defining RedOne, the 2011 dance track from Jennifer Lopez’ Love? samples the melody from Kaoma’s ‘Lambada’, which in turn sampled the Bolivian folk song ‘Llorando se Fue’. It’s a true party-starter as laid out by J-Lo with her opening line “it’s a new generation of party people” – capturing that post 2008-financial crash high-BPM music that we all came to love during the 2010s.
9. ‘Ay Chico (Lengua Afuera)’
(El Mariel, 2006)
Back in the 2000s, there was the iconic MTV reality show My Super Sweet 16, in which spoilt rich American teenagers threw obscenely large 16th birthday parties. The week of the party included trying to pick a luxury first car, the perfect 2000s outfit (boys in waistcoats, girls in strapless bubble-hem dresses), and begging their parents for their favourite artists to perform at their parties. In a 2007 episode where two rival frenemies in Florida are angling for the best Sweet 16 party their peers have been to, Pitbull performs a host of hits from his album El Mariel. It was in that episode that I first heard ‘Ay Chico (Lengua Fuera)’ and my life was changed forever. The song’s title translates to “Hey boy (Tongue Out)”, setting the tone for the cheeky, raunchy, but always fun lyrics, set against the backdrop of a reggaeton-inspired hip hop track.
8. ‘Go Girl (Feat. Trina and Young Bo$$)’
(The Boatlift, 2007)
If there was ever a song that reminded me of the days of owning an iPod Nano, it’s Pitbull’s ‘Go Girl’. Featuring Young Bo$$ (now known as David Rush) and 2000s rap princess Trina, ‘Go Girl’ is taps into crunk, trap and hip hop for this sensual club hit. The Soundz-produced beat has a characteristically 2000s simplicity in how stripped back it is – akin to ‘Grindin” by Clipse or ‘Wait (The Whisper Song)’ by the Ying Yang Twins. And the lyrics are characteristically Pitbull, “I party like a rockstar, look like a movie star / Play like an all-star, f*ck like a pornstar”. With an opening line like that, how can you not enjoy yourself?
7. ‘Shake (With Ying Yang Twins)’
(U.S.A. – United States of Atlanta, 2005)
All Pitbull wants you to do is dance and enjoy yourself. And with this Ying Yang Twins collaboration, the trio have a simple request for all listeners: shake your ass. Produced by Mr Collipark (whose handiwork also includes Bubba Sparxxx’s ‘Ms. New Booty‘, another Ying Yang collaboration with similar subject matter), ‘Shake’ samples the 1983 German synth-pop hit ‘Din Daa Daa (Trommeltanz)’ by percussionist George Kranz. The 118-BPM hip hop track gives listeners ample ammunition to “shake” to, especially with lyrics as hype as “Get loose, get crunk, get drunk, get blown / That’s right, let’s roll”.
6. ‘Timber (Feat. Kesha)’
(Meltdown, 2013)
Two pop culture powerhouses came together to make ‘Timber’, and no cocktail bar, student night or European beach club has ever been the same. Teaming up with the inimitable Kesha for this country-inspired dance hit, ‘Timber’ draws inspiration from the harmonica used in Avicii’s ‘Wake Me Up’, which Pitbull told Ryan Seacrest in an interview about the hit. Hoping to tap into the country-pop sound that was taking over the airwaves in the 2010s, Pitbull took the idea to his team of producers, and the rest was history. Not only do we have Avicii to thank for some of the most prominent hits of the 2010s, but without ‘Wake Me Up’, we never would’ve heard the lyrics “Face down, booty up (timber)/ That’s the way we like the what? (Timber)”. Pitbull could write Macbeth but Shakespeare could never write ‘Timber’.
5.’The Anthem (Feat. Lil Jon)’
(The Boatlift, 2007)
One of many Lil Jon collaborations throughout Pitbull’s early years, our fifth spot goes to ‘The Anthem’. From his 2007 album, The Boatlift, ‘The Anthem’ samples the perennial 2000s hit ‘Calabria 2007′ by ENUR and Natasja Saad, with a vocal interpolation of Dominican musician Wilfrido Vargas’ bachata song ‘El Africano’ (1983). The dembow track shows Pitbull paying homage to his Latin and Caribbean roots, rapping in both Spanish and English, while doing what he does best: creating a party-ready hit. Plus, not only does Lil Jon feature on the song, but he also co-produced the song. The cherry on top.
4. ‘Hotel Room Service’
(Pitbull Starring in Rebelution, 2009)
Pitbull is not above encouraging promiscuity for a good time, as shown by ‘Hotel Room Service’. The third single from his 2009 album, Rebelution, is another tribute to past party anthems with a sample of Nightcrawler’s 1995 hit ‘Push The Feeling On’, but with a much raunchier take on the 90s dance hit. The Pitbull and Jim Jonsin co-produced track features some of the most iconic mathematical equations, “2 + 2, I’m gon’ undress you…3 and 3, You gon’ undress me…4 and 4, we gon’ freak some more”.
And if his mathematical prowess wasn’t enough, the chorus of ‘Hotel Room Service’ invites Pitbull’s love interest to “forget about your boyfriend and meet me at the hotel room”. We’re not encouraging anyone to cheat on their partners to meet Pitbull in a hotel room, but we are telling you that this is a song worthy of of top-five spot on our list.
3. ‘Give Me Everything (Feat. Ne-Yo, Afrojack and Nayer)’
(Planet Pit, 2011)
The beauty of Pitbull is that he’s part party-starter and part motivational speaker, making pop hits that also have lyric such as “took my life from negative to positive, I just want y’all to know that / so tonight, let’s enjoy life”. That optimistic high-BPM dance music trend that took over the 2010s after the 2008 financial crisis made room for a slew of hits that invited people to leave all their problems on the dancefloor, whilst speaking positivity over their lives. As much of a campy hit ‘Give Me Everything’ has grown to be, Ne-Yo’s “for all we know, we might not get tomorrow / Let’s do it tonight” is a strangely inspiring affirmation of seizing the moment and being present.
Perhaps Pitbull was Nostradamus, foreseeing how much the general population would need to adopt healthier habits of living in the moment instead of for a brief hit of dopamine from a screen. Maybe ‘Give Me Everything’ is a timeless call to arms…perhaps it’s an excuse to “drink a little more than you should, tonight”. Whatever it means to you, ‘Give Me Everything’ is top three for us.
2. ‘Culo (Feat. Lil Jon)’
(M.I.A.M.I, 2004)
The spiritual twin of ‘Shake’, 2004’s ‘Culo’ is dembow/dancehall Pitbull at his best. The earliest Lil Jon collaboration on this list, 2004’s ‘Culo’ is the lead single from Pitbull’s debut album, M.I.A.M.I. It’s the perfect blend of tracks that appeared earlier on this list; a tribute to his Cuban roots, Lil Jon feature and production, a sample of a classic (Mr Vegas’ 2003 dancehall hit ‘Pull Up’), and references to shaking your rear end. The song’s title is a Spanish slang term for “ass”, and the music video (which looks like it was filmed on a Nokia 3310) features a young Pitbull and Lil Jon hosting a block party-style concert, with concertgoers happily obliging to the instructions in the lyrics to “bend over” and shake their “culo”. All in all, this 2004 hit was the signal that Pitbull’s influence on partygoers would be ever-lasting.
1. ‘I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)’
![PITBULL - I know you want me (calle ocho) [Official video HD]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/hFoxg4IFtqc/0.jpg)
(Pitbull Starring in Rebelution, 2009)
As if any other song but ‘I Know You Want Me’ could top this list. Yes, on ‘Give Me Everything’ he rhymes “kodak” with “kodak”. Yes, on ‘Timber’ he manages to prove that his skills traverse a host of genres. But the instantly recognisable Pitbull aesthetic that we’ve all grown to love (and emulate at concerts), was cemented with ‘Calle Ocho’. He knows we want him, we know he wants us. And in the borderline ridiculous music video where he is dressed in a full suit and aviators whilst everyone else around him barely has clothes on, he reminds us that no matter the climate or scenario, we should expect his suave persona to shine through. Nothing quite says 2009 like ‘Calle Ocho’. Nothing ever will.
Get tickets to Pitbull’s 2026 tour and summer shows here
