Pitbull was the real winner of the American Music Awards

By Fusion Staff  |  November 24, 2014 | 5:24pm
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The American Music Awards have always been the way-less-serious cousin of other music awards. They’re based on fan votes instead of the opinion of any kind of professional academy, and they lean heavily on the award show’s performance spectacle. And because it’s super-populist, there are pretty much no surprises in the list of winners— except maybe the fact that people are currently thinking about Imagine Dragons, who won “best alternative rock” group.

So let’s leave aside the slew of accolades for One Direction (artist of the year; pop/rock band, duo or group), Katy Perry (single of the year; pop/rock female artist) and Iggy Azalea (rap/hip-hop artist; rap-hip-hop album). One man clearly won the night: our bae Pitbull.

Last night marked the second annual turn for Pit hosting the AMAs, and it seems like the more he matures into the Ultimate Brand, the more the public adores him. Here are all the ways he won the night (and our hearts).

Pit stays tailored—not like those other schlubby pop stars in attendance.

It’s important to note that the AMAs, unlike fancier awards like the Grammys and the Oscars, don’t really have a dress code. So this was a specifically fancy sartorial choice that made everyone else look sloppy.

He even won over the great goddess of darkness, Lorde.

You know what…. Pitbull’s next album is called “Globalization,” showing he is Into Current Affairs. And given he was born in this country, we could totally vote Pitbull for President. Write-in candidate in 2016?

Same with real-deal music critics.

He even made J. Lo swoon.

We could thinkpiece a whole thing about Latino commercial success, the passing/sharing of the torch, and all that, but instead we’ll just leave you with these.

He forced the entire country to listen to bad Miami Cuban humor.

One of his early jokes was a hacky thing about Instagram filters—they could make him look like, punchline, Enrique Iglesias! People actually laughed!

Then there was the rapid-fire, unapologetic Spanglish.

He basically formed a conga line onstage and convinced people it was cool.

Of course it was all timed perfectly, business-wise. Pitbull’s “Globalization” is out today on iTunes.

Can’t knock our bb’s hustle, ever. He’s a business, man.

Arielle Castillo is Fusion’s culture editor, reporting on arts, music, culture, and subcultures from the streets on up. She’s also a connoisseur of weird Florida, weightlifting, and cats.

 
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