pitbull

The artist famous for sneaking dirty Spanish words onto the radio since 2004 has just released his ninth studio album, and this one is sure to slide past censors yet again — if it ever receives American play.

That’s right, Pitbull’s Dale came out today. This time, you won’t find Kesha or Usher on the album nor will you find much English.

Dale, one of Pitbull’s catchphrases meaning “Let’s go,” is the Cuban-American rapper’s second mostly-Spanish album; the first was Armando, which came out in 2010.

Out of 12 tracks, only about four are songs I would willingly listen to again.

All of these are club anthems of the same ilk as those he found success with in the past. They contain plenty of vocal interjections, the signature Pitbull howl/yodel, salsa piano and beats, driving bass and heavily auto-tuned hooks.

(Although thinking about it further, I could do without the howl.)

Some of the manufactured beats are reminiscent of summer hits by Iggy Azalea (“Fancy”) and Jidenna (“Classic Man”).

A personal favorite is “El Taxi,” complete with a background chorus and beeping traffic sound effects.

Another bright spot is “No Puedo Más,” which sounds eerily like an ‘80s power ballad because it samples The Human League’s “Don’t You Want Me.”

Listening to the whole record, one will realize there’s not a single song Pitbull isn’t helped out on by a musical guest, the best of which is Ricky Martin.

Pitbull’s harsh, choppy words woven with Martin’s smooth tones on “Haciendo Ruido” creates an auditory delight.

In the places where Pitbull speaks English, it’s mostly him reminding his listeners of his self-given nickname “Mr. Worldwide,” though on one track it sounds like the rapper is conjugating English verbs — badly. “I like to party; she like to party; we like to party.”

Most of the songs sound unoriginal and — if they aren’t fast-paced — quickly become boring. It also seems Pitbull is incapable of going solo on much of anything.

Just like a young Drake who spent the final 10 to 20 seconds of his songs giving shoutouts to his Toronto crew, Pitbull spends the first 10 to 20 seconds of these songs giving introductions to whichever artists provide their vocals.

Being Pitbull, he’s used to working with others, but now it seems he thinks he can’t find success without help — which could be true. Maybe if he spent more time on fleshing out his musical repertoire and less on hyping his collaborators, he would sound better on his own.