Flo Rida

Not to be confused with Florida.
Flo Rida

Flo Rida in Sydney on April 12, 2012
Background information
Birth name Tramar Lacel Dillard
Born (1979-09-16) September 16, 1979
Carol City, Florida, United States
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • rapper
Instruments Vocals
Years active 2000–present
Labels
Associated acts
Website officialflo.com

Tramar Lacel Dillard (born September 16, 1979),[1][2][3] better known by his stage name Flo Rida (pronounced /ˌfloʊ ˈraɪdə/), is an American hip hop recording artist from Carol City, Florida.[4] His 2008 breakout single "Low" was number one for 10 weeks in the United States and broke the record for digital download sales at the time of its release.

Flo Rida's debut studio album, 2008's Mail on Sunday, reached number four in the US. The album was succeeded by R.O.O.T.S., the next year. His subsequent albums, 2010's Only One Flo (Part 1) and 2012's Wild Ones, also charted on the US Billboard 200 chart. Flo Rida has sold over 80 million digital downloads, making him one of the best-selling music artists.[5][6] His catalog includes the international hit singles "Right Round", "Club Can't Handle Me", "Good Feeling", "Wild Ones", "Whistle", "I Cry", "G.D.F.R.", and "My House".

Life and career

1979–2006: Early life and career beginnings

Flo Rida was born as Tramar Lacel Dillard in Carol City, Florida, on September 16, 1979.[4] His parents raised him and his seven sisters together, some of whom sang in a local gospel group.[7] His brother-in-law was a hype man for local rap group 2 Live Crew, and while in ninth grade, Flo Rida joined an amateur rap group called the GroundHoggz.[8] The GroundHoggz had been a three-man group, with members who lived in the same apartment complex as Flo Rida. They started recording at underground studios in Carver Ranches.[9] The GroundHoggz, in this four-man incarnation, remained together for eight years.

Flo Rida's work with 2 Live Crew member Fresh Kid Ice, attracted the attention of DeVante Swing, a member of the band Jodeci. However, he was rejected by several of the major labels, so he sought many other jobs outside of music.[10] After graduating from high school in 1998, he studied international business management at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas for two months and attended Barry University for two months.[10][11] He returned to Florida to continue pursuing his music career after receiving a phone call from a representative of the independent label Poe Boy Entertainment.[10]

Flo Rida signed with Hot Boyz, in 2000 and with Poe Boy, in 2004 and began affiliating himself for Cash Money with other Southern hip hop artists, such as Rick Ross, Trina, T-Pain, and Trick Daddy. A promotional single entitled "Birthday", featuring Rick Ross, was his first significant release. He made his debut guest appearance with the song "Bitch I'm From Dade County" on DJ Khaled's album We the Best (2007), which also features Trick Daddy, Trina, Rick Ross, Brisco, C-Ride, and Dre.[12]

2007–2008: Mail on Sunday

Rehearsing for the 2008 Much Music Video Awards in Toronto

Flo Rida's debut album, Mail on Sunday, was released in March 2008. The first single was "Low", featuring T-Pain, which was also included in the soundtrack to the movie Step Up 2: The Streets. "Low" reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[12] "Elevator", featuring Timbaland, "In the Ayer" featuring will.i.am, and "Roll" featuring Sean Kingston followed, and both charted on the Hot 100 and other charts.[13]

Other than T-Pain, there were many featured guests throughout Mail on Sunday. Timbaland, who produced the second single "Elevator", is also featured on the track. Rick Ross, and Trey Songz made appearances as well.[14] Lil Wayne[14] appeared on the track "American Superstar", while Sean Kingston appeared on the J. R. Rotem-produced "Roll", which was co-written by Compton rapper Spitfiya. Various other guests include Birdman, Brisco, and Yung Joc.

"Money Right", featuring Brisco and Rick Ross, was scheduled to be the fourth single, but this was canceled due to the upcoming release of Flo Rida's second studio album, R.O.O.T.S. His second collaboration with T-Pain, "I Bet", as well as his collaboration with Trina, named "Bout It", both did not make the final track list, but were recorded.

After the success of Mail on Sunday, Flo Rida made guest performances on other R&B, rap, and pop singles, including "Move Shake Drop" by DJ Laz, "We Break the Dawn" by Michelle Williams, the remix of "4 Minutes" by Madonna, "Running Back" by Australian R&B singer Jessica Mauboy, "Feel It" by DJ Felli Fel, and the remix of "Speedin'" by Rick Ross. During the summer of 2008, he did live performances on the Fox dance competition program So You Think You Can Dance in the US[15] and 2008 MuchMusic Video Awards in Canada.[16] He appeared on the albums We Global by DJ Khaled, Gutta by Ace Hood, and The Fame by Lady Gaga, among others.

2009–2010: R.O.O.T.S.

Flo Rida on the set of the music video for "Sugar"

Flo Rida began recording his second album, R.O.O.T.S., 9 months after Mail On Sunday. The album was released on March 31, 2009.[17] The first single, "Right Round" featuring Ke$ha, was released for airplay in January 2009. "Right Round" jumped from number 58 to the top spot in one week in late February. The song broke a record for the most digital one week sales in the US, with 636,000, beating the previous record he had set himself with "Low".[18] "Right Round" sampled "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)", a 1985 hit by Dead or Alive.[19] The second official single was "Sugar", which featured R&B singer Wynter Gordon. The song reached No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Jump", featuring singer Nelly Furtado, was the third official single and was released on July 27, 2009 in the UK, and July 28, 2009 worldwide.[20] "Be on You", featuring features singer Ne-Yo, was the album's fourth official single, released on October 6, 2009. Both songs charted in the top 100 in various countries. "Available", featuring Akon, was going to be released on iTunes but was cancelled. It charted at number 120 in Ireland. A music video was also shot in mid-2009.[21] R.O.O.T.S. debuted at number eight on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 55,000 copies in its first week.[22] As of August, 2009, the album has sold 223,000 copies in the United States, and 536,000 worldwide. By the end of 2009, the album sold 247,000 copies in the US, becoming the eighth best selling rap album of 2009.[23]

Flo Rida made guest performances on "Feel It" by DJ Felli Fel, "Starstruck" by Lady Gaga, and "Feel It" by Three 6 Mafia. "Bad Boys", the first single by winner of British reality show The X Factor Alexandra Burke that featured Flo Rida, debuted at No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart in October.[24]

2010–2011: Only One Flo (Part 1)

Flo Rida's third album Only One Flo (Part 1) was released on November 24, 2010. In March 2010, Flo Rida announced on Twitter that the album would be titled The Only One.[25] Billboard reported that The Only One was to be a double album.[26] A promo single, titled "Zoosk Girl", which features T-Pain, was released on the internet, though the song is not featured on the album, the single does have its own music video. On June 28, 2010, Flo Rida released the song "Club Can't Handle Me" featuring David Guetta, which was stated to be the official first single for the album. The song was also featured in the Step Up 3D soundtrack.[27] On November 2, 2010, "Come with Me" was released as the first promo single for the album, along with "Puzzle", produced, and featuring by Electrixx, which is not featured on the album. On November 16, 2010, "Turn Around (5, 4, 3, 2, 1)" was released as the second official promo single for the album via the iTunes Store.[28] It debuted on the Australian Singles Chart at number thirty-four on November 29, 2010.[29] After the release of the album in the UK, "Who Dat Girl" started to receive a strong amount of downloads, thus causing it to debut at number 136[30] on the UK Singles Chart and chart at a current peak of number thirty-one on the UK R&B Chart.[31] "Why You Up In Here" was released as the fourth single, and third promo single, on May 11, 2011. The song features Ludacris, Gucci Mane, and Git Fresh.

Flo Rida also made guest appearances on "iYiYi", a song by Australian teen singer Cody Simpson, and on the song "Out My Video" by Bulgarian singer LiLana. Flo Rida collaborated with UK girl group The Saturdays, recording a new version of their single, "Higher".[32]

In December 2010, Flo Rida created his own label, International Music Group, inspired by Nicki Minaj's signing with Lil Wayne's. He has signed an 18-year-old rapper, Brianna[33] and Git Fresh[34] to International.

2011–2013: Wild Ones

Flo Rida performing live in 2012

Flo Rida's fourth album, Wild Ones (originally titled Only One Rida (Part 2)) was released in July 2012. Its debut single was "Good Feeling", released on August 29, 2011.[35] The song samples "Levels" by Avicii, which in turn samples Etta James' 1962 song, "Something's Got a Hold on Me". Following the death of Etta James on January 20, 2012, Flo Rida dedicated the song in her memory.[36] The song peaked at No. 3 in the United States,[37] and topped the charts in Austria,[38] Germany,[39] Scotland,[40] and the UK. It reached the top five in nine other countries.

The next two singles from the album were the title track, "Wild Ones", released in December 2011, and "Whistle", released April 2012. "Wild Ones" reached #1 in various countries, and hit #5 in the US, while "Whistle" reached #1 in 20 countries, including the United States.

On April 1, 2012, Flo Rida appeared at WWE's WrestleMania XXVIII in a segment with Heath Slater, Curt Hawkins, and Tyler Reks, in which Slater called Flo Rida "Florida" and the rapper shoved him into a wall. Later that night, he performed "Wild Ones" and "Good Feeling" before Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson came out for his match against John Cena. An exclusive Australian EP entitled Good Feeling was released in Australia on April 6, which contains six of his biggest hits and two remixes.[41] It debuted at No. 21 on the Australian ARIA Albums Chart[42] On May 22, 2012, Flo Rida performed and closed the show at the first Q102 Springle Ball Concert, and the following day he performed "Goin' In" with Jennifer Lopez on the America Idol finale.

On September 13, Flo Rida performed his new single "I Cry" on America's Got Talent.[43] In an interview with New York Music News, Flo Rida said he is currently recording his next album and that he has finished shooting the music video for "Let It Roll".[44] On December 9, he performed "Let it Roll" and "Wild Ones" at the 2012 edition of WWE's Tribute to the Troops. In November 2012, he collaborated with Olly Murs for his song "Troublemaker".

In June 2013, Flo Rida collaborated with Marc Mysterio on the song "Booty on the Floor" to benefit the families and victims of the Boston Marathon bombing via One Fund Boston.[45]

2014–present: My House and The Perfect 10

On September 29, 2014 (October 21 in the U.S) Flo Rida released the lead single from his EP My House (2015) titled "G.D.F.R." featuring Sage the Gemini. The song became his tenth top 10 hit in the United States. The title track My House was later released as a single and peaked at number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 2016, his biggest hit since 2012's "Whistle".

On February 26, 2016, Flo Rida released "Hello Friday" featuring Jason Derulo, which serves as the lead single from his upcoming fifth studio album The Perfect 10. It has peaked at number 79 so far. On March 24, 2016, Flo Rida released the promotional single "Who's With Me". On May 20, 2016, Flo Rida released another promotional single "Who Did You Love" featuring Arianna.

Discography

Main article: Flo Rida discography

Studio albums

EPs

Awards and nominations

Year Type Award Result
2008 American Music Awards Breakthrough Performer[46] Nominated
Favorite Male Hip-Hop Artist Nominated
BET Awards Best New Artist[47] Nominated
Best Collaboration ("Low" with T-Pain)[48] Nominated
BET Hip Hop Awards Ringtone of the Year ("Low" with T-Pain)[49] Nominated
Rookie of the Year[50] Nominated
Best Hip-Hop Collabo ("Low" with T-Pain)[51] Nominated
MuchMusic Video Awards Best International Video ("Low" with T-Pain)[52] Nominated
People's Choice Favorite International Video ("Low" with T-Pain) Nominated
MTV Video Music Awards Best Hip-Hop Video ("Low" with T-Pain) Nominated
Best Male Video ("Low" with T-Pain)[53] Nominated
Ozone Awards Breakthrough Artist[54] Nominated
Club Banger of the Year ("Low" with T-Pain) Nominated
Teen Choice Awards Choice Breakout Artist[55] Nominated
Choice Rap Artist Nominated
Choice Hook-Up ("Low" with T-Pain) Won
2009 ARIA Music Awards Breakthrough Artist Single ("Running Back" with Jessica Mauboy)[56] Nominated
Highest Selling Single ("Running Back" with Jessica Mauboy) Won
APRA Awards Urban Work of the Year ("Running Back" with Jessica Mauboy)[57] Won
Grammy Awards Best Rap/Sung Collaboration ("Low" with T-Pain) Nominated
MTV Australia Awards Best Video ("Low" with T-Pain) Nominated
Best Collaboration ("Running Back" with Jessica Mauboy)[58] Nominated
MTV Video Music Awards Best Hip-Hop Video ("Right Round")[59] Nominated
NT Indigenous Music Awards Single Release of the Year ("Running Back" with Jessica Mauboy)[60] Won
People's Choice Awards Favorite Hip-Hop Song ("Low" with T-Pain)[61] Won
Teen Choice Awards Best Hip-Hop Rap Track ("Right Round") Nominated
2010 APRA Awards Urban Work of the Year ("Running Back" with Jessica Mauboy) Nominated
Grammy Awards Best Rap Album (R.O.O.T.S.)[62] Nominated
Album of the Year (The Fame as featured artist) Nominated
Latin Billboard Music Awards Crossover Artist Of The Year Nominated
Crossover Artist of the Year, Solo Nominated
People's Choice Awards Hip-Hop Artist of the Year Nominated
2012 Premios 40 Principales Mejor Artista Internacional en Lengua No Española[63] Nominated
Mejor Álbum Internacional en Lengua No Española[63] Nominated
Teen Choice Awards Single by Male Artist ("Good Feeling") Nominated
R&B/Hip-Hop Artist [64] Nominated
R&B/Hip-Hop Song ("Wild Ones" with Sia) Nominated
Music Star Male Nominated
Billboard Music Award Top Rap Song ("Good Feeling")[65] Nominated
International Dance Music Award Best R & B/Urban Dance Track ("Good Feeling")[66] Nominated
Best Rap/Hip Hop Dance Track ("Good Feeling")[66] Nominated
MTV Europe Music Awards Best Male[67] Nominated
Best World Stage Performance[67] Nominated
American Music Awards Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist[68] Nominated
2013 Peoples Choice Awards Favorite Hip-Hop Artist Nominated
Grammy Awards Best Rap/Sung Collaboration ("Wild Ones with Sia") Nominated
NRJ Music Awards International Male Artist of the Year Nominated
International Dance Music Awards Best Rap/Hip-Hop Dance Track ("Wild Ones") Won
Billboard Latin Music Awards Crossover Artist of the Year Nominated
2013 Billboard Music Awards Top 100 Artist Nominated
Top Male Artist Nominated
Top Digital Songs Artist Nominated
Top Rap Artist Nominated
Top Rap Song ("Wild Ones") Nominated
Top Rap Song ("Whistle") Nominated

References

  1. ↑ "Tonight". Flo Rida Official Instagram account. September 16, 2013. Retrieved September 18, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Birthday Recap". Flo Rida Official Twitter account. September 17, 2013. Retrieved September 18, 2013.
  3. ↑ Flo Rida | Music Biography, Streaming Radio and Discography. AllMusic.
  4. 1 2 Hillary, Crosley (January 19, 2008). "Rapper Flo Rida puts on "Sunday" best". Yahoo!. Reuters. Retrieved August 16, 2012.
  5. ↑ Bennett, Chuck (February 19, 2016). "Society Confidential: Flo Rida hits Sabrage". The Detroit News. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  6. ↑ Robehmed, Natalie (2013-10-21). "Rapper Flo Rida Endorses Debt-Riddled Beamz". Forbes. Retrieved 2014-06-09.
  7. ↑ "Bio". Officialflo.com. Poe Boy Entertainment. Retrieved December 12, 2010.
  8. ↑ "GroundHoggz". GroundHoggz.
  9. ↑ "Flo Rida interview by Pete Lewis, 'Blues & Soul' April 2009". Bluesandsoul.com. Retrieved 2013-07-25.
  10. 1 2 3 Concepcion, Mariel (November 28, 2007). "Flo Rida". Billboard. Retrieved March 29, 2010.
  11. ↑ Garland, Maurice G. (February 2008), "Flo Rida: Sunshine All Day", Vibe, 16 (2), p. 86
  12. 1 2 Kellman, And (2007). "Flo Rida: Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved December 19, 2007.
  13. ↑ Flo Rida > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles. Retrieved November 9, 2008.
  14. 1 2 Danica Dow (February 23, 2008). SOHH Exclusive: Flo Rida Goes "Postal" on Debut, Collaborates w/ Will.i.am, Lil' Wayne. SOHH. Retrieved February 24, 2008.
  15. ↑ Sample, Kristin (June 20, 2008). "So You Think You Can Dance: Top 16 Revealed". TV Squad.
  16. ↑ "2008 MMVA Guests". MuchMusic. Retrieved June 14, 2008.
  17. ↑ Cohen, Jonathan (January 9, 2009). "Flo Rida Gets 'Round' To Second Album". Billboard. Retrieved January 18, 2009.
  18. ↑ "Flo Rida Makes History Again, New Single Breaks Digital Record". XXL. February 18, 2009. Retrieved September 7, 2010.
  19. ↑ Reid, Shaheem (February 20, 2009). "Flo Rida Talks About Record-Breaking Single 'Right Round'". MTV News. Retrieved September 7, 2010.
  20. ↑ "Radio1 – UK Forthcoming Singles". Radio1.gr. Retrieved December 9, 2009.
  21. ↑ "Flo Rida feat Akon Available". youtube.com. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
  22. ↑ "Keith Urban Soars To No. 1 On Billboard 200". Billboard. September 14, 2009. Retrieved December 9, 2009.
  23. ↑ Douglas, DeVaughn (December 30, 2009). "AllHipHop ChartWatch: 2009's Top Selling Hip-Hop Acts". allhiphop.com. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
  24. ↑ Griffiths, Peter (October 18, 2009). "Alexandra Burke beats Robbie Williams to top charts". Reuters. Retrieved September 7, 2010.
  25. ↑ "Twitter update 10892447100". Twitter. March 22, 2010. Retrieved March 30, 2010.
  26. ↑ Graff, Gary (August 17, 2010). "Flo Rida to Show Range of Skills on Double Album, 'The Only One'". Billboard. Retrieved August 20, 2010.
  27. ↑ Popular right now:     (August 20, 2010). "Flo Rida Talks Collaborations And New Album...". TaleTela. Retrieved August 10, 2011.
  28. ↑ "Turn Around (5,4,3,2,1) – Deluxe Single by Flo Rida – Download Turn Around (5,4,3,2,1) – Deluxe Single on iTunes". Itunes.apple.com. November 16, 2010. Retrieved August 10, 2011.
  29. ↑ "ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart: 29/11/2010". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved November 28, 2010.
  30. ↑ Only One Flo (Part 1) Chart Log UK. Retrieved August 2011
  31. ↑ "R&B Singles Chart". Theofficialcharts.com. Retrieved August 10, 2011.
  32. ↑ "The Saturdays Announce New Single + Flo Rida Collaboration!". thesaturdays.co.uk. September 2, 2010. Retrieved September 5, 2010.
  33. ↑ "Flo Rida talks music, preps female rapper protege". Associated Press. December 15, 2010. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
  34. ↑ Vasquez, Annie (February 5, 2011). "The lowdown on Flo". Miamiherald.com. Retrieved February 6, 2011.
  35. ↑ "iTunes".
  36. ↑ "Etta James Tribute (Flo Rida - Good Feeling)". youtube.com.
  37. ↑ "Good Feeling - Flo Rida". www.billboard.com. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
  38. ↑ "FLO RIDA - GOOD FEELING (SONG)". austriancharts. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
  39. ↑ "Flo Rida".
  40. ↑ "Scottish Singles Top 40 - 4th August 2012". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
  41. ↑ iTunes EP. Retrieved 2012-04-15
  42. ↑ Chart Watch. Retrieved 2012-04-15
  43. ↑ "FLO RIDA PERFORMS ON AMERICA'S GOT TALENT TONIGHT!". Retrieved 6 October 2012.
  44. ↑ "FLO RIDA Interview Atop The Empire State Building". New York Music News. 2012-11-20. Retrieved 2012-11-20.
  45. ↑ "Guestlisted with Jed Gottlieb". Boston Herald. 2013-06-07. Retrieved 2013-07-25.
  46. ↑ Harris, Chris. "Lil Wayne, Coldplay, Alicia Keys Lead 2008 American Music Award Nominees". MTV News. Retrieved October 14, 2008.
  47. ↑ Best New Artist. BET Awards 2008.
  48. ↑ Best Collaboration BET Awards. 2008
  49. ↑ Ringtone of the Year Retrieved August 24, 2010.
  50. ↑ Rookie of the Year. BET Hip Hop Awards 2008. Retrieved August 24, 2010.
  51. ↑ Best Hip Hop Collabo BET Awards 2008. Retrieved August 24, 2010.
  52. ↑ Best International Video – Artist. MuchMusic Video Awards 2008. Retrieved August 24, 2010.
  53. ↑ Best Male Video, Best Hip Hop Video. MTV Video Music Awards 2008.
  54. ↑ "Ozone Awards 2008 Nominees". Retrieved July 15, 2008.
  55. ↑ "2008 Teen Choice Awards winners and nominees". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 17, 2008.
  56. ↑ 2009 ARIA Awards details announced Retrieved August 20, 2010
  57. ↑ APRA Award winners announced Retrieved August 24, 2010.
  58. ↑ "List of nominees". Sydney Morning Herald. February 19, 2009. Retrieved March 7, 2009.
  59. ↑ Jayson Rodriguez. "Flo Rida Says He 'Looks Up To' His VMA Rivals". MTV News. Retrieved August 14, 2009.
  60. ↑ "NT music awards". Blogs.abc.net.au. 2007-08-26. Retrieved 2013-07-25.
  61. ↑ People's Choice Awards Nominations 2009 Retrieved 2008-11-10
  62. ↑ Robinson, Dantrel (January 13, 2009). "It's A Rap! — A Look At Rap In 2009". Grammy.com. Retrieved January 13, 2009.
  63. 1 2 "Premios 40 princiaples 2012".
  64. ↑ "Teen Choice Awards 2012". teenchoiceawards.com.
  65. ↑ "Billboard Music Awards 2012". Billboard.com.
  66. 1 2 "International Dance Music Award 2012". dancemusic.about.com.
  67. 1 2 "MTV EMA FLO RIDA". la.mtvema.com.
  68. ↑ "VOTE FOR FLO RIDA TO WIN A 2012 AMERICAN MUSIC AWARD!". Retrieved 14 November 2012.

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