Pitbull says 'thank you' to UK for banning explicit video

Just when you thought that the Mary Whitehouse effect had disappeared for good, Pitbull, a.k.a. Mr. Worldwide, goes and gets his "Don't stop the party" video banned for featuring complete nudity. Tsk!

It serves as a cool reminder of the censorship that saw 'Relax' and then 'Two Tribes' get banned for Frankie Goes To Hollywood in the eighties. Both songs became number one hits.

Whilst constraints may have relaxed on broadcastable content since Whitehouse's passing in 2001, we've still a way to go before we are as at one with our nudity as... the sultry Scandinavians, or sexy Spanish senoritas, say. (But not with a mouthful of digestives.)

Pitbull still targeting world chart domination

With a name like Pitbull, you wouldn't expect a little thing like a UK video ban to derail his self-declared plan to, quite simply, take over the world of rap. And right you'd be.

Rather than see it as a setback, Pitbull has actually expressed his gratitude, saying "bet that up" (slang for thank you if you're from Miami, apparently) for being slapped on the same exclusive list as Madge, 2 Live Crew and Birmingham crooners Duran Duran for having a vid too hot to air. No mention of Frankie, funnily enough.

[caption id="attachment_5131" align="alignright" width="646"] Nudity just too much for us Brits as Pitbull's video gets banned
credit: duchessa, sxc[/caption]

The cool customer sees the whole banned video saga as just another stepping stone. When interviewed by BANG, he laid down the path to success quite succinctly.

The five-year Pitbull domination plan

2009 saw Pitbull's release from record label TVT, which the rapper translates as his 'freedom in the music business' phase. True enough, his first commercial successes came shortly after he and TVT parted company.

In 2010, he launched an 'invasion' on the music industry before '[building] an empire' in 2011 following the invasion's success. This year has all been about capitalising on those opportunities to 'grow wealth'.  You'd have to say he's done that, looking at the star list lined up to perform with him on his next album.

His plans for next year are to fit all of those pieces together to complete the jigsaw. From where we're stood, the borders are certainly in place, it's just a couple of fiddly bits in the middle that Pitbull may have to bang down in 2013 to make the perfect picture.

Anyone doubting his capacity to realise that dream need only look at those stars already committed to performing on 'Global Warming', said to be his next album. I doubt very much whether the title refers to green issues, rather a reflective statement encompassing his last four years' activity, accomplished with the skill of long-term strategist, it has to be said.

For our delight, we'll hear Pitbull perform with Christina Aguilera and J-Lo (now there's a thought) as well as Enrique, Usher and Chris Brown. I have to say, I'm warming to it already.

I wonder if he could make the video with Xtina as explicit as the UK-banned 'Don't stop the Party' flick? Oops...that's one thought too many...