Pitbull is working two angles on his new projects. The raunchy rapper is preparing the release of his sophomore LP El Mariel, as well as a steamy DVD titled “Latinas Gone Crazy” that he hopes to package with the album, which is due October 24 on TVT Records.

“A friend of mine is behind that project, I’m just doing a favor for him,” Pit coyly said a few weeks ago between breaks from Video Music Awards media activities. “That’s basically [going to be] cross-promotion for my album. It’s just me going around showing the love wherever I go. “Plus the women are beautiful,” he added.

But the Cuba native known for sexcapade anthems like “Culo” and his latest single, “Bojangles,” featuring the Ying Yang Twins, explained that on El Mariel he’s learning to balance freaky tales with his interest in politics. Pit said he noticed his bilingual rhymes often lured listeners to seek out the meanings behind his lyrics. So the rapper ensured his latest project would feature its fair share of party tracks via the album’s executive producer Lil Jon, but he also wanted to include a number of more socially aware compositions reflecting his heritage and Cubans’ struggles in his adopted Florida home.

“When I did a record like ‘Toma’ in an all-black club in Tallahassee [Florida] and it’s the biggest record of the night when I perform it