Money and Responsibility with Pitbull

In my introductory post, I briefly alluded to my Business Spanish course at the University of Toronto. Teaching that course was a great teaching and learning experience for me – and I hope my students as well. One thing that I included in the course reader that did seem noteworthy or questionable to some was an article by none other than Pitbull, Mr. 305. 😊 We used it to study his approach to the balance between creativity and business, as well as to analyze non-traditional business structures. I was talking about this with a friend/client the other day and I thought that Mr. Worldwide might be a great way to start off my “Money According to _____” blog.

One thing Pitbull mentions is the importance of repetition for marketing music – find the words, sounds, phrases that people like and just keep using them. He and other reggaetoneros are known for this exact practice. And it totally works for him, making him very successful. Repetition is important for more than just selling, though. It is important for learning any new behaviour or skill, but also, more simply, for influencing people. So what, then, happens if people are constantly inundated by ideas like: “I knew my rent was gonna be late about a week ago/I work my ass off/But still can’t pay it though,” “This is the last twenty dollars I got/ But I’m a have a good time ballin’ on that,” or “Now let’s get loose, have some fun/ Forget about bills and the first of the month.” All of these quotes are from the song “Time of Our Lives,” but there are other songs by Pitbull and other musicians spreading the same sort of ideology that having fun is more important than responsibility and pragmatism. A few other Pitbull examples include his song “Hey baby” where Pitbull boasts that his wealth allows him to be internationally promiscuous, “I’m a Dade county, self-paid, self-made millionaire/ I used to play around the world / Now I’m around the world, getting paid / Girl problems, no problems” as well as Pitbull and Marc Anthony’s “Rain On Me” where Pitbull sings “Mami, you know the drill, they won’t know what I got til they read the will,” which really just promotes problematic financial/estate planning. (If you are planning on leaving a legacy/inheritance it is best to have open conversations about this with your heirs to avoid confusion and lengthy court battles upon your passing!)

I guess it is less sexy/exciting to sing about being responsible and paying your bills on time (although people do, check out “LunchMoney Lewis – I’ve Got Bills”), but I am also pretty sure most people don’t dream about being constantly in debt either – which is what this seems to propagate. Can we not find a way to teach one another that you can still have fun and “get loose” while also being able to properly manage your money?

What do you think? What are some of your (least) favourite songs about money?

Tara

Ps. There is also something to be said about amassing wealth by encouraging others to be irresponsible, but that is a whole other story!