Tramar Dillard (born on October 16, 1979), better known by his stage name Flo Rida (pronounced /ˌfloʊ ˈraɪdə/), is an American rapper and singer. Later, he appeared in numerous popular rap mixtapesand studio albums, most notably in We the Best in 2006. Mail on Sunday was Flo Rida's solo debut album; its first single "Low", featuring T-Pain which was a #1 hit for ten weeks in United States in early 2008. 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 most successful single "Right Round" was at the top of the Hot 100 for six weeks.
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[edit]Early life
Tramar Dillard was born in the 187th Street projects of Carol City, Florida.[1] His single mother raised him and his seven sisters, some of whom sang in a local gospel group.[2] Dillard's brother-in-law was a hypeman for local rap group 2 Live Crew, and Dillard formed his own amateur group with some friends called the Groundhoggz. His work with 2 Live Crew member Fresh Kid Ice attracted attention ofDeVante 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.[3] After graduating from high school in 1998, he studied international business management at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas for two years and attended Barry University for two months.[3][4] 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.[3] Dillard signed with Poe Boy in 2006, and as Flo Rida he began affiliating with other artists, 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 made his debut guest appearance with the song "Bitch I'm from Dade County" on DJ Khaled's album We the Best, which featured Trick Daddy, Trina, Rick Ross, Brisco, C-Ride, and Dre.[5]
[edit]Music career
[edit]Mail on Sunday (2007–08)
Flo Rida received worldwide acclaim and popularity with 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.[5] "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.[6]
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 Foxdance competition program So You Think You Can Dance in the US[7]and 2008 MuchMusic Video Awards in Canada.[8] He appeared on the albums We Global by DJ Khaled, Gutta by Ace Hood, and starstruck byLady Gaga, among others.
[edit]R.O.O.T.S. (2009)
According to, Billboard magazine, Flo Rida began recording his sophomore nine months after Mail On Sunday. The album is titled R.O.O.T.S. and was released on March 31, 2009.[9] The first single "Right Round" featured Ke$ha and was released for airplay in January 2009. "Right Round" jumped from number 58 to the top spot in one week in late February. It the song broke a record for the most digital one week sales in the U.S., with 636,000, beating the previous record he had set himself with "Low".[10] "Right Round" sampled "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)", a 1985 hit by Dead or Alive.[11] The second official single was "Sugar", which featured R&B singer Wynter Gordon. The song reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100. Other singles were "Jump" featuring Nelly Furtado, which reached #54 on the Hot 100 and was the promotional single for the animated film G-Force, and "Be On You" featuring Ne-Yo, which reached #19 on the Hot 100. In addition to singles from his own album, Flo Rida made guest performances on "Feel It" by DJ Felli Fel, "The Fame" by Lady Gaga, and "Feel It" by Three 6 Mafia. "Bad Boys", the first single by winner of British reality show The X FactorAlexandra Burke that featured Flo Rida, debuted at #1 on the UK Singles Chart in October.[12]
[edit]Only One Flo (Part 1) (2010)
Flo Rida announced on Twitter in March 2010 that his next album would be titled The Only One.[13]Billboard reported that The Only One is to be a double album.[14] The single "Zoosk Girl", featuring T-Pain was leaked online on March 28.[15] J-Rock produced "Zoosk Girl".[16] "Club Can't Handle Me", produced by David Guetta, was the first official single and reached #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States and #4 on the Canadian Hot 100. "Club Can't Handle Me" was also on the soundtrack for Step Up 3-D. Flo Rida also made guest appearances on "iYiYi", a song by Australian teen singerCody Simpson, and on the song "Out My Video" by Bulgarian singer LiLana. On 31 August 2010, it was announced that Flo Rida had collaborated with English/Irish girl group The Saturdays, after he beat the group to the number one spot in the UK for the second time.[17][18] It was later confirmed, byThe Saturdays official website that Flo Rida had recorded a new version of the girl's ninth single, "Higher", which Rida's vocals would be featured in it.[19][20] It was also announced that the single would be released on the 29th of September 2010[21] Flo Rida recorded his parts of the music video separately.[22] The video was completed on 29 August 2010.[23] The second single to be released is "Turn Around (5, 4, 3, 2, 1)" produced by DJ Frank E. A third single named "Who Dat Girl" is to be released and will also feature Akon. The new album will be released on November 30th.
[edit]Discography
Main article: Flo Rida discography
- Studio albums
- Mail on Sunday (2008)
- R.O.O.T.S. (2009)
- Only One Flo (Part 1) (2010)
[edit]Awards and nominations
| Year | Type | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | American Music Awards | Breakthrough Performer[24] | Nominated |
| Favourite Male Hip-Hop Artist | Nominated | ||
| BET Awards | Best New Artist[25] | Nominated | |
| Best Collaboration ("Low" with T-Pain)[26] | Nominated | ||
| BET Hip Hop Awards | Ringtone of the Year ("Low" with T-Pain)[27] | Nominated | |
| Rookie of the Year[28] | Nominated | ||
| Best Hip-Hop Collabo ("Low" with T-Pain)[29] | Nominated | ||
| MuchMusic Video Awards | Best International Video ("Low" with T-Pain)[30] | Nominated | |
| People's Choice Favourite 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)[31] | Nominated | ||
| Ozone Awards | Breathrough Artist[32] | Nominated | |
| Club Banger of the Year ("Low" with T-Pain) | Nominated | ||
| Teen Choice Awards | Choice Breakout Artist[33] | Nominated | |
| Choice Rap Artist | Nominated | ||
| Choice Hook-Up ("Low" with T-Pain) | Nominated | ||
| 2009 | ARIA Music Awards | Breakthrough Artist Single ("Running Back" withJessica Mauboy)[34] | Nominated |
| Highest Selling Single ("Running Back" with Jessica Mauboy) | Won | ||
| APRA Awards | Urban Work of the Year ("Running Back" with Jessica Mauboy)[35] | Won | |
| Grammy Awards | Best Rap/Sung Collaboration ("Low" with T-Pain) | Nominated | |
| Best Rap Song ("Low" with T-Pain) | Nominated | ||
| MOBO Awards | Best Song ("Low" with T-Pain)[36] | Nominated | |
| MTV Australia Awards | Best Video ("Low" with T-Pain) | Nominated | |
| Best Collaboration ("Running Back" with Jessica Mauboy) | Nominated[37] | ||
| MTV Video Music Awards | Best Hip-Hop Video ("Right Round" with Kesha)[38] | Nominated | |
| NT Indigenous Music Awards | Single Release of the Year ("Running Back" withJessica Mauboy)[39] | Won | |
| People's Choice Awards | Favourite Hip-Hop Song ("Low" with T-Pain)[40] | Won | |
| Teen Choice Awards | Best Hip-Hop Rap Track ("Right Round" with Kesha) | 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.)[41] | Nominated | |
| People's Choice Awards | Hip-Hop Artist of the Year | Nominated | |
| PCA Awards | Choice Hip-Hop Artist of the Year | Nominated |
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