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Pitbull talks about his Vegas connection and returning to the Axis stage

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Mr. Worldwide returns to his Las Vegas residency at the Axis this month.
Greg Watermann

Industry Weekly caught up with the man himself, Pitbull, a day after his appearance at Major League Baseball’s Home Run Derby—and after reports broke that he’s part of a group looking to buy the Miami Marlins—to talk about his return to the stage in Las Vegas, music, sports and more.

You’ve tweaked your Axis show a bit since the last time you were in town. We’ve made adjustments for the simple fact that Vegas is such an amazing place and platform, and it’s amazing to be able to be around these legendary, iconic names. The reason why they became legendary is they were always reinventing themselves, so that’s what we’re trying to do. We’re bringing a new show with the same energy, the same fun, so you’ll feel like you had the best nightclub experience of your life, only bigger. I’m having the time of my life up there, and what better place to have it than Sin City? Vegas has a special place in my heart.

It must, because you chose the Las Vegas Valley, Henderson specifically, to expand your SLAM Charter School program. Vegas is just very proactive, and so is the state of Nevada, in terms recognizing when improvement needs to be made. They want to take a different approach to education and that’s what we’ve been doing in Miami, taking the curriculum and giving it a tweak so we’re teaching the same thing, but applying sports to the equation. Expanding the SLAM program is about finding community partners that understand how we’re trying to improve on what’s going on, and slowly but surely it is starting to spread around the country. We’re hoping by the end of the year there will be close to seven SLAMs, and I want to thank Nevada for believing in us.

In Miami you’re working on becoming part-owner of the Marlins. I’m still pinching myself. Its unbelievable to get a chance to be involved in this group bidding on the Marlins. In my world, that stadium where the Orange Bowl used to be, where legacies were built, that’s the heart of Miami. I used to live up the block. It’s a fairy tale. We’ll see where it goes.

You’re still going strong from your recent album, Climate Change. What’s next, music-wise? Right now we just put out a video for “Options,” and we got to shoot it in Kingston [Jamaica], in Bob Marley’s old house, because Stephen Marley is on that record. Then we’ll be moving on to “Better on Me,” featuring Ty Dolla $ign. And then looking at the new year, we have a Spanish album ready to release in November, and the single on that one is “Hey Ma” which opens the movie The Fate of the Furious. One way or another, I’m always working. Pitbull: Time of Our Lives at the Axis at Planet Hollywood, July 21-August 5.

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Brock Radke

Brock Radke is an award-winning writer and columnist who currently occupies the role of editor-at-large at Las Vegas Weekly magazine. ...

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