- The Pitbull song "Blood Sport" was originally recorded for a "Cocaine Cowboys"-inspired soundtrack.
- But when plans for that were scrapped, director Billy Corben held it for Netflix's "Kings of Miami."
- "I thought the song was brilliant," Corben told Insider.
Netflix's "Cocaine Cowboys: The Kings of Miami" is a thrilling look inside the rise and fall of Sal Magluta and Willy Falcon, who were Miami's biggest drug traffickers during the 1980s.
The filmmakers behind the six-episode docuseries, director Billy Corben and producer Alfred Spellman, knew they had to have a hype theme song to live up to their high-octane story.
Luckily, they had an original song from a major recording artist already in their back pocket.
Kicking off every episode of "Kings of Miami" is the song "Blood Sport," written and performed by Pitbull. Though it sounds perfect for the series, it actually was created for a previous project by Corben and Spellman that never panned out.
Corben and Spellman are known best for creating the "Cocaine Cowboys" documentary franchise, including 2006's "Cocaine Cowboys" and its sequel two years later.
Corben wanted to do a hip-hop soundtrack to accompany the release of 2014's "Cocaine Cowboys: Reloaded," which featured footage and interviews that didn't make it into the 2006 doc.
The movie's composer put together some tracks with music similar to the score and then Corben and Spellman sent it out to Miami-based rappers who in the past were supporters of "Cocaine Cowboys," asking if they would add their raps to it.
"Pitbull was the only artist to send something back," Corben told Insider.
Though the "Cocaine Cowboys" hip-hop soundtrack idea was scrapped, the filmmakers held onto Pitbull's "Blood Sport" track. And when "Kings of Miami" became a reality, it became the docuseries' theme song.
"I thought the song was brilliant," Corben said. "It's all from the perspective of cocaine. He takes over the voice of cocaine and talks about it in the first person, which I thought was very clever."
One lyric in the song Pitbull raps goes: "They'll kick in your door like Bruce Lee / just to have an intimate love affair with me / I corrupt governments / yeah that's me / I built the streets / listen closely."
The filmmakers said they don't know if Pitbull has watched the series yet, as he's currently on tour, but they are trying to get his theme song released on Spotify and iTunes.
Disclosure: Mathias Döpfner, CEO of Business Insider's parent company, Axel Springer, is a Netflix board member.
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