During his trip in Brazil earlier this month, Pitbull did an interview with VEJA, where he discussed his new collaboration with Claudia Leitte, as well as performing at the World Cup in São Paulo back in 2014.

Read the English-translation of the interview below!

The song We Are One, theme of the World Cup in Brazil, in 2014, opened the doors of the Brazilian public for you. How was the experience? Being able to be onstage with two powerful women – “Queen of Brazil”, who is Claudia Leitte, and Jennifer Lopez – in the opening ceremony of the World Cup in one of the most beautiful countries in the world, it was like a dream come true.

The Cup was affected by some episodes of disorganization. Did you feel that? What happened was that the Cup came very fast, and Brazil had to make it happen. But look, it was like it would be in any country. Did you have complications? Yes. But life is full of complications. That’s what makes the story even better. The show needs to continue.

What kind of complications? In the end, (the organization) was not ready for what was going to happen at that moment. Not the World Cup, but the perfomances. There were many things going on at the same time. What we needed to do was make sure we were simple and not complicated. “Okay, we’ve done this several times before. So don’t worry, we’ll make sure people have a good show on time. ”

In the last decades, several Brazilian artists have tried an international career. Who do you think came closer to that? Some people are trendsetters, and will open many doors for Brazilian artists. Claudia Leitte is one of them. Anitta is also doing a great job internationally. Currently, Claudia, Ivete Sangalo, and Anitta are the three that make the most noise internationally. But a recording can change everything. A song you least expect comes up there and opens the door to the world.

What artists need to have to reach this international market? That you never know. It’s like a roulette wheel. The music game is changing a lot. Spotify and YouTube are transforming the radio and the way people know us. I think Claudia is ready. She’s an incredible artist with a great voice. Not just beautiful, but very intelligent and a great human being. When you put it all together, nothing is missing for you. In any country.

Is the package of beauty, voice and performance on stage? That is definitely part of the package. Only you can have it all and still need a good song. I’ll give you an example: the song that made me known around the world was Calle Ocho. I thought that recording was going to gain success.

Is Carnival the music that can make Claudia burst out of the country? We hope so. We hope that Carnival is the song. Especially, presenting her here at the Carnival. Let’s work it out as best we can. Claudia and I made history together, opened the World Cup, and we’re about to do it again, from Miami to Brazil.

Do you know Pabllo Vittar? Pabllo Vittar?

She is a Brazilian drag queen, who has a lot of success here. I think I saw her presentations with Diplo, Fergie and Anitta. I’ve heard of her, but I’ve never heard her songs. It’s amazing what she’s doing, breaking barriers, borders. That says a lot about being what you want in life and showing yourself to the world that way. And produce good songs that make everyone want to be with you.

Is it possible for a Brazilian drag queen to do well in the American market? Of course. In the American market, we have Ru Paul, who exploded on the scene. I don’t know why not. Good music is good music. It does not matter where you are from, who you are and what you want in life. That’s the beauty of music. It is a universal language. It doesn’t judge anyone. It brings people together.

Read the original interview in Portuguese by clicking here.