"Get It Started" is a song by American recording artist

Pitbull Pit bull is a term used in the United States for a type of dog descended from bulldogs and terriers, while in other countries such as the United Kingdom the term is used as an abbreviation of the American Pit Bull Terrier breed. The term was f ...

from his seventh studio album ''

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''. It was released on June 25, 2012 as the second single from the album by

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also ...

. The song features guest vocals from Colombian singer-songwriter

Shakira Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll ( , ; born 2 February 1977), professionally known by the mononym Shakira, is a Colombian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Barranquilla, she has been referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular ...

, marking the third time they have collaborated on a song together, the others being an official remix to the Spanish version of " Did it Again", "Lo Hecho Está Hecho", and the English version of " Rabiosa". The artists co-wrote the song with its producers,

DJ Buddha Urales Vargas (born March 15, 1980), known professionally as DJ Buddha, is an American DJ, record producer, radio personality, music publisher, and record executive from Lawrence, Massachusetts. In 2015, Buddha was enshrined into the Lawr ...

Sidney Samson Sidney V. Samson (born 2 October 1981) is a Dutch DJ. He is best known for his track, Riverside, which was released in 2009. Career Samson started DJing at the age of 13, focusing on hip hop music before working seriously on house music fro ...

Marc Kinchen Marc Kinchen (born August 3, 1972), known by his initials MK, is an American DJ, record producer and remixer. He hit number-one on the US '' Billboard'' Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in 1993 and 1994 with the songs " Always" and "Love Change ...

, Develop, with additional writing from Durrell "Tank" Babbs and Kris Stephens. It is a

dance-pop Dance-pop is a popular music subgenre that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developing from a ...

song that "blends a dance beat and up-tempo verses with a slowed-down, piano-driven pop chorus".

Background and release

Pitbull and Shakira first collaborated with each other in 2010 from her seventh studio album ''

Sale el Sol ''Sale el Sol'' ( en, The Sun Comes Out, italic=yes) is the ninth studio album by Colombian singer and songwriter Shakira, released on 19 October 2010, by Epic Records. The album marks a return to Shakira's signature Latin pop sound after the e ...

'' (2010), Shakira enlisted Pitbull to co-write the English and Spanish versions of the songs " Loca" and " Rabiosa". Pitbull appears on the English version of the latter. In June 2011 Pitbull revealed that he had reached out to Shakira to appear on his single " Give Me Everything". Shakira declined his offer, citing personal issues, but stated that she would be open to a collaboration with him in the future, but "not now". Pitbull then sent the verse he offered to Shakira song to

Ne-Yo Shaffer Chimere Smith (born October 18, 1979), known professionally as Ne-Yo, is an American singer, songwriter, actor, dancer, and record producer. He gained fame for his songwriting abilities when he penned Mario's 2004 hit " Let Me Love You ...

, who recorded it and "knocks it out of the park". Pitbull then reached out to Shakira once again, stating that: "I think this is really going to be a monster, I would love for you to be a part of it, if not cool". She declined the second verse offered to her, and it went to

Nayer Nayer Regalado, known mononymously as Nayer, is an American singer. She gained recognition in 2011 after being featured on Pitbull's hit single "Give Me Everything", and releasing her single " Suave (Kiss Me)" featuring Pitbull and Mohombi whi ...

. On October 7, 2011 the RCA Music Group announced it was disbanding

J Records J Records was an American record label owned and operated by Bertelsmann Music Group until it was transferred to Sony Music Entertainment when they acquired all of BMG’s record labels in late 2008. It was distributed through the RCA Music Gro ...

along with

Arista Records Arista Records () is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously handled by BMG Entertain ...

and

Jive Records Jive Records was an American independent record label founded by Clive Calder in 1981 as a subsidiary to the Zomba Group. In the US, the label had offices in New York City and Chicago. Jive was best known for its successes with hip hop, R&B, ...

. With the shutdown, Pitbull (and all other artists previously signed to these three labels) will release his future material on the

brand. Pitbull revealed in March 2012 that he and Shakira had recorded a new song together. He stated that the song was "a follow up to what we have going on with the '

Men in Black In popular culture and UFO conspiracy theories, men in black (MIB) are purported men dressed in black suits who claim to be quasi- government agents, who harass, threaten, or sometimes even assassinate unidentified flying object (UFO) witnesses ...

(III)'." He concluded by stating that: "I look forward to anything I have to do with Shakira". Shakira recorded her vocals for the song in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, while Pitbull recorded his in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...

. The song was leaked online on June 25, 2012. Pitbull performed this during the MDA Show of Strength on September 2, 2012, with video footage of Shakira in the background.

Composition

"Get It Started" is a

and

Eurodance Euro-Dance (sometimes referred to as Euro-NRG, Euro-electronica or Euro) is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s in Europe. It combines many elements of hip hop, techno, Hi-NRG, house music, and Euro-Disco. This ...

song with a duration of four minutes and five seconds. It was written by Pitbull, Bigram Zayas, Durrell Babbs, Kris Stephens, Marc Kinchen, Sidney Samson, Urales Vargas, and Shakira, and produced by DJ Buddha, Marc Kinchen, Develop and Sidney Samso. The song's composition "blends a dance beat and up-tempo verses with a slowed-down, piano-driven pop chorus", with "a pummeling synth instrumental to back the Latin-rap heavyweight’s high-energy verses." After each chorus, there is a eurodance beat. Shakira provides the "heart-wrung hook" on "Get It Started", "emoting as the beat breaks off into a subtle stomp" before quickly "returning in full force seconds later". in the chorus, she sings: "Everytime I look into your eyes / I feel like I could stare in them for a lifetime / we can get started for life." On the song, Pitbull talks about "his passports and his world travels", singing: "To these rappers I apologize, I know it ain’t fair / Only ball I drop, New Year’s Times Square / The world is mine / Sixth sense, I see the seven signs / Now baby, let’s get started for life." He also names

Tom Cruise Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962), known professionally as Tom Cruise, is an American actor and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actors, he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d'Or and three Go ...

on the lyrics, although in a way "that would have Cruise’s lawyers come knocking on his door", in reference to his past legal issues with

Lindsay Lohan Lindsay Dee Lohan ( ; born July 2, 1986) is an American actress and singer. Born in New York City and raised on Long Island, Lohan was signed to Ford Models at the age of three. Having appeared as a regular on the television soap opera '' An ...

Music video

The music video was first released onto Pitbull's official

VEVO Vevo ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized as VEVO until 2013) is an American multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available as an app on selected smart TVs, ...

channel on August 2, 2012 and was directed by David Rosseau. Shakira shot her part of the video in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

, while Pitbull shot his part in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, Spain. The music video has scenes that cut between the two and has them separately on top of a clock tower. After the line "don't start what you can't finish", it shows Pitbull driving very fast in traffic before the outro, where he is on stage performing the song. The video has received over 76 million views.

Formats and track listings

; Digital downloadGet It Started: Pitbull feat. Shakira: Amazon.co.uk: MP3 Downloads
/ref> # "Get It Started" (feat.

) – 4:05 # " Back in Time" ( Play-n-Skillz Remix) - 3:38 ;CD single # "Get It Started" (feat. Shakira) – 4:06 # " I Like (The Remix)" (feat.

Enrique Iglesias Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler (; (born 8 May 1975) is a Spanish singer and songwriter. He started his recording career in the mid-1990s on the Mexican indie label Fonovisa and became the bestselling Spanish-language act of the decade. By th ...

and

Afrojack Nick Leonardus van de Wall (; born 9 September 1987), better known as Afrojack, is a Dutch DJ, music producer and remixer from Spijkenisse, South Holland. In 2007, he founded the record label Wall Recordings; his debut album '' Forget the Worl ...

) – 3:37

Credits and personnel

* Armando C. Perez – vocals, songwriter * Durrell Babbs – songwriter * Kris Stephens – songwriter *

– songwriter, record producer *

– songwriter, record producer * Urales "DJ Buddha" Vargas – songwriter, record producer *

– vocals, songwriter * Develop – songwriter, record producer Source:

Charts

Certifications

, -

Release history

References

External links

* {{authority control 2012 singles Pitbull (rapper) songs Shakira songs Eurodance songs Song recordings produced by RedOne RCA Records singles Songs written by Marc Kinchen Songs written by Pitbull (rapper) Songs written by Shakira 2012 songs Songs written by Tank (American singer) Songs written by Kris Stephens Songs written by DJ Buddha Song recordings produced by DJ Buddha