Photo: Omar Cruz for People en Español

Mr. Worldwide has been named the most influential Latino of 2015 by People en Español. He is featured on the cover of the magazine’s Los 50 Más Influyentes edition, out now.

In case the magazine isn’t available where you are, or you are unable to purchase it, Pitbull Updates has the full interview in Spanish and English, plus scans of Pit’s section in the issue!

Read the interview in English below!

Pitbull greets me with a firm handshake and opens the door to the ladies, at least he did during the photo shoot in Miami. And an exclusive interview? It was granted in the backseat of a luxury car as his driver took him to a meeting to finalize the details of the series, Life, based on his musical tour that Spike TV is airing.

In fact, his new CD, Dale (from the label Mr. 305 Inc.), was created in airplanes, yachts, hotels and islands across the globe. Thanks to him not sitting still, his music stands today on radio and in countless clubs, his mischievous smile adorns billboards and he has his own vodka, clothing line, perfume and restaurants – which has let him become an unstoppable global force and People en Español’s most influential figure of the year.

How did he get the name Pitbull? “A friend of mine gave me the name because I have forever been fighting very hard with words, in life, in my career… biting, no barking,” he says with laughter. The Cuban American, Armando Christian Perez, 34, doesn’t forget his origins. He learned the art of survival from his mother, grandmother and aunt. “Women raised me,” he says. “They taught me to be thorough, organized. I earned this intuition they have.”

Intuition that led him to change the course of his life. An argument with his mother, Alysha Acosta, who warned him that if he continued in the drug world, he would have to leave home when he was still a teenager, straighten his steps. Today, he motivates other kids attending his charter school SLAM! in Miami – that emphasizes sports and instills leadership – to let the kids also go “from negative to positive.”

In fact, his six children are his engine. “Being a dad is the only true love that I have,” says the artist, whose fortune amounted to $12 million in 2014 according to Forbes magazine. “For me, the most important thing is to teach by example.” So it takes time, but his busy schedule seems like an action movie. “My life is like James Bond,” he jokes. And if he has a Bond girl? “There’s always room for love,” he admits, “but these beings are the most protected.”

Besides singing in his New Year’s party in Miami (which will air on FOX on December 31), Pitbull wants to fulfill the dream that one day he will sing with Celia Cruz; and sing in Cuba after it becomes free. “[I want to] sing for her, for everyone who died without seeing or touching this land,” he says. His own dreams, he adds, have already come true. “I am the best example of the American dream, and that is not a lie” he says. “If you want to, go and fight me.”

Read the interview in Spanish below:

Pitbull es un hombre que saluda con un fuerte apretón de manos y les abre la puerta a las damas. Al menos asi lo hizo durante esta sesion de fotos en Miami. Y su entrevista exclusiva? Fue concedida en el asiento trasero de un lujoso auto mientras su chofer lo llevaba a una reunion para ultimar los detalles de la serie, Life, basada en su gira musical, que se transmitira por Spike TV. Es evidente que esta superestrella – cuyo grito de guerra es “Dale!” – no para.

De hecho, su nuevo CD Dale (de disquera Mr. 305) fue creado en aviones, yates, hoteles e islas por todo el planeta. Gracias a no quedarse quieto, su pegajose musica se destaca hoy en las radio y en un sinnumero de discotecas, su picara sonrisa adorna vallas comerciales y cuenta con su propio vodka, linea de ropa, perfume y restaurantes – lo cual lo ha convertido en una fuerza global imparable y la figura mas influyente del ano de “People en Espanol”.

Como surgio la leyenda de Pitbull? “Un amigo mio me dio el nombre por siempre estar peleando muy duro con las palabras, en la vida, en mi carrera, mordiendo, no ladrando”, cuenta entra risas el cubanoamericano Armando Christian Perez, de 34 anos, que no olvida sus origenes. El arte de la supervivencia lo aprendio de su madre, abuela y su tia. “Las mujeres me criaron”, dice. “Me ensenaron a se detallista, organizado. Me transmitieron esa intuicion que tienen”.

Intuicion que lo llevo a cambiar el rumbo de su vida. Una discusion con su mama, Alysha Acosta, quien le advirtio de que si seguia en el mundo de las drogas tendria que irse de su casa cuando era aun adolescente, lo hizo enderezas sus pasos. Hoy, el motiva a otros jovenes que asisten a su escuela charter SLAM! en Miami – que enfatiza los deportes e inculca liderazgo – a tambien pasar “de negativo a positivo”.

De hecho. sus seis hijos son su motor. “Ser papi es el unico amor verdadero que tengo”, reconoce el artista, cuya fortuna ascendia a $12 milliones en el 2014 segun la revista Forbes. “Para mi, lo mas importante es ensenarles con mi ejemplo”. Por eso le dedica tiempo, aunque su hiper cargada agenda parezca cosa de pelicula. “Es un vida tipo James Bond”, bromea. Y en ella tiene a una Chica Bond? “Siempre hay espacio para el amor”, admite, “pero a esos seres son los que mas proteges”.

Además de cantar en la fiesta de Año Nuevo en Miami (que se transmitira por la cadena FOX el 31 de diciembre), Pitbull quiere cumplir el sueno que un dia tuvo su compatriota Celia Cruz: cantar en una Cuba libre. “[Quiero] cantar para ella, para todo el mundo que se murio sin ver o tocar su tierra”, senala. Sus propios suenos, agrega, ya se han hecho realidad. “Soy el mejor ejemplo de que el sueno americano no es una menitra”, afirma. “Si lo quieres, ve ya lucha lo.”

See scans from the magazine below!