Bad
Boy Teams up with Pitbull launch Bad Boy Latino
Miami (Miami Herald) —
Hip-hop power broker
Sean ''P.Diddy'' Combs is venturing into the Latin
music world with Bad Boy Latino, a new label the
famed producer has launched with Cuban-American
Miami rapper Pitbull.
The new venture took off Wednesday night with a
party at Miami's Bongos Cuban Cafe. It was a
hip-hop shot across the bow of the Latin music
world, in Miami in force for the Billboard Latin
Music Conference and tonight's Billboard Latin
Music Awards.
''It's gonna focus on Latin artists and the
fusion of what I do marketingwise . . . to embrace
the movement and take it to the next level,''
Combs said. The producer said his label, with
offices in Miami and New York, will be about half
Latin rap artists, as well as Latin soul and
tropical music.
Combs' involvement gives new legitimacy to the
burgeoning success of Latin hip-hop, says Pitbull,
whose debut album M.I.A.M.I.: Money Is A Major
Issue, has been certified gold.
''With Puffy involved, it helps our movement,''
said Pitbull, who will be involved in signing
artists, marketing and running the new label.
The company hasn't yet signed any artists.
''Whether people see it as him jumping on
what's hot -- I see it as someone with vision who
sees where music is going,'' Pitbull said.
Pitbull spoke Wednesday after the East Meets
West panel at the conference, which brought
together some of Latin hip-hop's biggest stars at
the downtown Hotel InterContinental.
They included reggaeton artist Daddy Yankee,
whose latest album has sold 800,000 copies, and
best-selling urban regional duo Akwid, who
jump-started a California movement mixing rap and
Mexican regional music. They spoke to a packed
room, emphasizing the excitement over a
hot-selling genre that has taken many in the Latin
music establishment by surprise.
''It's one of the fastest growing styles in the
world -- it can't be ignored,'' Combs said. 'The
combination of what I do with hip-hop and [
Hispanics'] reflection of what's going on in their
lives . . . means we can make a lot of hit records
together.''
Combs said growing up with Hispanics in the
Bronx and living in Miami, where he has had a
part-time home for a year and a half, had given
him insight into Latin music and culture.
He'll be appearing on the Billboard Latin Music
Awards tonight. ''I was always embraced by the
Latin community and have been embraced by them,''
he said. ``It's a little more than a business
opportunity.''
Combs' involvement could give a major boost to
Latino rap, which has yet to be fully accepted by
the broader hip-hop world.
''Combs is here to take it to the next level,''
Pitbull said.
Diddy Artist Page
BY
JORDAN LEVIN
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