“Trackhouse” by Pitbull

Mr. Worldwide is still stuck in 2010?

By Shanna Sivakumar

After four years… ¡dale! Mr. Worldwide is back with more music, in case you ran out of songs to dance to at a club that only plays pop hits from 2012. On Oct. 6 of this year, Pitbull released his 12th studio album titled “Trackhouse”—a nod to his co-owned NASCAR team, Trackhouse Racing.

“Trackhouse” is largely unsurprising. I mean, it’s Pitbull. He’s a man that found a formula that works and ran with it for over a decade. However audiences grow and change, and the same listeners that were up and excited by his music several years ago are now much older and far more underwhelmed with his music.

nine of the 14 tracks on the album have features, including Lil Jon and T-Pain among many others. But even with the numerous other artists, each track falls short. To further wound the listener, many of the tracks sample instantly recognizable songs from artists past. For example, track two, “JUMPIN” featuring Lil Jon samples House of Pain’s “Jump Around” but fails to recreate the hype and electric feeling of the original. Another well known sample is MC Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock’s 1988 classic, “It Takes Two,” whose hook is lyrically altered and sung by Latin artist Vikina in track 10.

The album largely consists of EDM, dance, dubstep, and the slightest hints of house and reggaeton. It’s Pitbull’s signature music, but feels outdated in 2023. But if you’re looking for a throwback to 2010’s dance music, “Trackhouse” is the right album for you.