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Flo Rida

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Flo Rida

Tramar Dillard, better known by his stage name Flo Rida (Template:PronEng, from flow rider), is an American pop-rapper. As a teenager, he toured with local rap group 2 Live Crew.[1][2] Later, he appeared in numerous popular rap mixtapes and studio albums, most notably in We the Best in 2006. Mail on Sunday was Flo Rida's solo debut album; its lead single "Low", featuring T-Pain which was a #1 hit for ten weeks in early 2008.[2] Two other singles resulted from Mail on Sunday: "Elevator" and "In the Ayer". In 2009, his second album R.O.O.T.S. was released; its single "Right Round" spent six consecutive weeks on the top of the Hot 100.

Early life

Tramar was born in the 16th Street projects in the Carol City neighborhood of Miami Gardens, Florida, which is where he gets his name (Flo Rida).[3] As a teenager, Dillard worked with local rap group 2 Live Crew and formed his own amateur group with some friends called the sugar hill gang. His work with 2 Live Crew member Fresh Kid Ice attracted 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. After graduating from high school in 2001,[3] he studied international business management at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas for two years[4] and attended Barry University for two months; Flo Rida justified dropping out of college by pursuing a music career [1] He returned to his home state of Florida to continue pursuing his music career after receiving a phone call from a representative of the independent label Poe Boy Entertainment.[1] Dillard signed with Poe Boy in 2007, and began affiliating himself with other Florida rappers, such as Rick Ross, Trina, T-Pain and Trick Daddy. A promotional street single entitled "Birthday", featuring Rick Ross, was his first significant release. He would make his mainstream debut with the song "Bitch I'm from Dade County" on DJ Khaled's album We the Best, which also had Trick Daddy, Trina, Rick Ross, Brisco, C-Ride, and Dre.[2]

Music career

Mail on Sunday (2008)

Flo Rida received worldwide acclaim and popularity due to the chart-topping success of his first single, "Low", featuring T-Pain. It was his first official single from his debut album Mail On Sunday and the soundtrack to the movie Step Up 2 The Streets. "Low" reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[2] "Elevator", featuring Timbaland, "In the Ayer" featuring will.i.am, and "Roll" featuring Sean Kingston followed and all charted on the Hot 100 and other charts.[5] He also collaborated with many other well-known artists in the hip-hop industry, such as Rick Ross, Birdman, Lil Wayne, Trey Songz, and Yung Joc. 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[6] and 2008 MuchMusic Video Awards in Canada.[7] He appeared on tracks from the albums We Global by DJ Khaled, Gutta by Ace Hood, and The Fame by Lady Gaga, among others.

R.O.O.T.S. (2009)

According to Billboard magazine, Flo Rida began recording his second album nine months after Mail On Sunday. The album is titled R.O.O.T.S. (Route of Overcoming the Struggle) and was released on March 31, 2009. Producers include J Rock, Dr. Luke and DJ Montay.[8] on February 18, 2009 Flo Rida got his second number-one hit "Right Round", the first single from R.O.O.T.S.. "Right Round" jumped from number 58 to the top spot in just one week. The song also broke a record for the most digital one week sales, with 636,000, beating the previous record he had set himself with "Low".[9][10] The second official single is "Sugar".

Appearances in this sophomore album include Ne-Yo, Akon, Wyclef Jean, Pleasure P, Nelly Furtado, Wynter Gordon, and Kesha.

Discography

Studio albums

Year Album Peak chart positions[11] Certifications
(sales threshold)
US US R&B US Rap CAN UK AUS IRE NZ
2008 Mail on Sunday 4 3 2 4 29 20 57 14
2009 R.O.O.T.S. 8 6 3 6 5 6 13 14

Singles

Year Single Peak chart positions[11][15] RIAA
Certifications
[16] 		Album
US US R&B US Rap US Pop UK CAN AUS IRE NZ NL
2008 "Low" (ft. T-Pain) 1 9 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 3 5× Platinum Mail on Sunday
"Elevator" (ft. Timbaland) 16 52 10 21 20 10 13 11 10 33 Gold
"In the Ayer" (ft. will.i.am) 9 105 16 14 29 13 19 13 9 20 Platinum
2009 "Right Round" (ft. Kesha) 1 63 3 1 1 1 1 1 2 3 3× Platinum R.O.O.T.S.
"Shone" (ft. Pleasure P) 57 81 38 — 112 — — — — —
"Sugar" (ft. Wynter Gordon) 5 101 10 8 19 8 30 27 — 35 Gold

Other charted songs/promo singles

Year Single Peak chart positions Album
US US R&B US Pop CAN UK
2008 "Birthday" (ft. Rick Ross) — 107 — — — Mail on Sunday
"Roll" (ft. Sean Kingston) 61 — 48 43 —
2009 "Be on You" (ft. Ne-Yo) 75 — — — 51 R.O.O.T.S.
"Jump" (ft. Nelly Furtado) 95 — — 32 —
"Available" (ft. Akon) — — — 89 —

Awards and nominations

  • BET Awards[19]
    • 2008: Best New Artist (Nominated)
    • 2008: Best Collaboration: "Low" with T-Pain (Nominated)
  • BET Hip Hop Awards[20]
    • 2008: Ringtone of the Year: "Low" featuring T-Pain (Nominated)
    • 2008: Best Hip Hop Collabo: "Low" featuring T-Pain (Nominated)
    • 2008: Rookie of the Year (Nominated)
  • Teen Choice Awards[21]
    • 2008: Choice Music: Hook-Up - "Low" featuring T-Pain (Nominated)
    • 2008: Choice Music: Rap Artist (Nominated)
    • 2008: Choice Music: Breakout Artist (Nominated)
    • 2008: Choice Music: "In the Ayer" featuring will.i.am(Nominated)
  • MTV Video Music Awards[22]
    • 2008: Best Male Video - "Low" featuring T-Pain (Nominated)
    • 2008: Best Hip Hop Video - "Low" featuring T-Pain (Nominated)
  • Grammy Awards[23]
    • 2009: Best Rap/Sung Collaboration - "Low" featuring T-Pain (Nominated)
    • 2009: Best Rap Song - "Low" featuring T-Pain (Nominated)
  • MTV Australia Awards[25]
    • 2009: Best Video - "Low" featuring T-Pain (Nominated)
    • 2009: Best Collaboration - "Running Back" by Jessica Mauboy featuring Flo Rida (Nominated)

References

  1. ^ a b c Concepcion, Mariel (2007-11-28). "Flo Rida". Billboard. Retrieved 2007-12-19.
  2. ^ a b c d Kellman, Andy (2007). "Flo Rida: Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved 2007-12-19.
  3. ^ a b Cobo, Leila (2008-01-19). "Rapper Flo Rida puts on "Sunday" and kicked biggie smalls ass. best". Reuters. Retrieved 2008-09-11.
  4. ^ Garland, Maurice G. (2008-02-28). "Flo Rida". Vibe. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
  5. ^ Flo Rida > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles. Accessed 9 November 2008.
  6. ^ Sample, Kristin (2008-06-20). "So You Think You Can Dance: Top 16 Revealed". TV Squad.
  7. ^ "Flo Rida". MuchMusic. Retrieved 2008-06-14.
  8. ^ Cohen, Jonathan (2009-01-09). "Flo Rida Gets 'Round' To Second Album". Billboard. Retrieved 2009-01-18.
  9. ^ Flo Rida’s “Right Round” Shatters Digital Singles Record With a Little Help From an ’80s Hook
  10. ^ [1] Shockhound interview
  11. ^ a b "Flo Rida worldwide chart positions and trajectories". aCharts.us. Retrieved December 28 2007.
  12. ^ [2] RIAA Certifications
  13. ^ http://www.bpi.co.uk/
  14. ^ http://www.cria.ca/gold/0808_g.php
  15. ^ Artist Chart History. Billboard. Accessed August 31, 2007.
  16. ^ RIAA
  17. ^ 2008 American Music Awards Nominees. ABC
  18. ^ Best International Video - Artist. MuchMusic Video Awards 2008
  19. ^ Best Collaboration, Best New Artist. BET Awards 2008.
  20. ^ Ringtone of the Year, Best Hip Hop Collabo, Rookie of the Year. BET Hip Hop Awards 2008.
  21. ^ Teen Choice 2008 Nominees List, Teen Choice 2008 Winners List
  22. ^ Best Male Video, Best Hip Hop Video. MTV Video Music Awards 2008.
  23. ^ [3].Grammy Nominations 2009.
  24. ^ [4].People's Choice Nominations 2009.
  25. ^ "List of nominees". Sydney Morning Herald. 2009-02-19. Retrieved 2009-03-07.
  26. ^ "MOBO Nominations". MTV UK. 2008-09-11. Retrieved 2009-03-07.
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