Pitbull's partners from A to Z

Veteran Miami hip-hop star Pitbull may not have the world's strongest voice, and he's no Jay-Z, but he's among the best in the business at picking musical partners. Early on, he showed up on bigger stars' albums, but as his own profile grew, Pitbull invited hitmakers from Akon to Jim Jones to share his space. On this year's "Planet Pit," the 30-year-old rapper took the cameo formula to a new extreme, giving slots to Chris Brown, T-Pain and Marc Anthony. By midyear, "Give Me Everything," with Ne-Yo, had sold more than 2.2 million digital tracks.

In advance of Pitbull's shows tonight at Roseland Ballroom and tomorrow at the Paramount, we look at his top five collaborations.

1 "Give Me Everything"

Borrowing the hook from Cutting Crew's 1986 hit "(I Just) Died in Your Arms," R&B singer Ne-Yo provides the silky counterpart to Pitbull's raspy rapping -- landing last summer's biggest party jam. Our own Lindsay Lohan sued for defamation over the best line: "Hustlers move aside, so I'm tiptoeing /

Keep flowin' / I got it locked up like Lindsay Lohan." Pitbull countersued.

2 "Hey Baby (Drop It to the Floor)"

Aiming for the top of the charts, Pitbull broadened from crunk and reggaeton to pure pop for his slick and relentlessly catchy "Planet Pit." T-Pain employs his specialty, Auto-Tune, on this upbeat track full of "la la la's."

3 "Krazy"

Bigger stars like Akon and B.O.B. appear on Pitbull's 2009 album, "Starring in Rebelution," but nobody rocks as hard as old friend Lil Jon, despite his fading star power at the time. "Jump up, let's get crazy" goes the repetitive chorus, with a corresponding little riff.

4 "Fuego"

Speeding up the tinkly hook to Debbie Deb's 1984 electro-rap hit, "When I Hear Music," Pitbull put this fast-talking club anthem on 2006's "El Mariel" -- but it wasn't until reggaeton singer Don Omar showed up on the DJ Buddha remix a year later that it truly came alive. In both, the whoops and hollers between verses are the best part.

5 "Culo"

In the old days -- 2004 -- pretty much every rapper had to make a crunk move in order to get into the clubs and thus onto the radio. Pitbull had great connections, inviting specialist and TVT Records label mate Lil Jon to act his usual kind of crazy to a persistent Latin rhythm. It works.

WHO Pitbull

WHEN | WHERE Tonight at 8, Roseland Ballroom, 239 W. 52nd St., Manhattan; tomorrow at 8 p.m., the Paramount, 370 New York Ave., Huntington

INFO Roseland: $55-$75; Paramount: $65-$125 at Ticketmaster, 800-745- 3000, ticketmaster.com