| Love him or hate him… he rides the Flo |
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| Sunday, 07 June 2009 03:50 | |||
FLO RIDA With several hot tracks out there burning up the dance floor and his first hit still getting girls low, Florida born rapper Flo Rida is earning the reputation of being more of a pop artiste than a rapper.While most cannot say that his songs aren’t popular, they argue that it’s more pop than hip hop. According to one former New York DJ, saying they should coin a new term to describe what Flo Rida does as ‘Hip Pop’! Apart from his really clever name and good looks, what is there to Flo Rida??? The question is a valid one, and depending on how you look at it, the answers may vary. While to some a hot, buff, tattooed, thuggish-looking brotha shouldn’t be singing what seems to be akin to euro pop, for the masses, his songs are there for pure club value and not much else. “I like some of his songs. I have a couple of his ringtones like Low and Elevator. He sings some alright songs. But it’s just for the clubs,” said Sasha, a regular night clubber. According to another clubber, Jheanette, “He looks like a Gangsta and he’s singing stuff that sounds like Ace of Base. He reminds me of that big, thick black guy from White Chicks who broke out singing that Vanessa Carlton song in the car: Making my way downtown walking fast, faces passed and I’m homebound. He can’t be serious.” So why then is he so popular? What makes it not okay for him to sing Right Round, or Sugar, which samples I'm Blue by the group Eifel 65, while it’s fine for Kanye to sing Stronger, which samples Daft Punk? The NY DJ said she believes he might not have much of a say in what he is singing. Record labels and producers sometimes dictate what the artistes sing, regardless of their passion. And many artistes conform because it’s what makes them popular and earn them the big bucks. Flo Rida performed at the Best of the Best Memorial Day Weekend, with artistes like Rick Ross, Ace Hood, Brisco and T-Pain, so he’s definitely rolling with the big dogs. For Flo Rida, born Tramar Dillard, his albums and singles are doing pretty well. Described in some circles as a pop-rapper, it is Flo Rida’s image that seems to be the biggest problem since how he looks doesn’t seem to line up with how he sounds. But Flo Rida’s involvement in rap started a while back when he toured with 2 Live Crew as a teen. It wasn’t until Flo Rida released the lead single Low from his solo debut album Mail on Sunday that he gained chart topping success. Low sat comfortably at the #1 spot on Billboard Top 100 chart for ten weeks in 2008. Elevator and In the Ayer were also popular singles from that album. Flo Rida released his second album, R.O.O.T.S. (Route of Overcoming the Struggle) in 2009 with its hit single Right Round spending six weeks in the #1 spot on the Hot 100 chart. Right Round also shattered the record for the most digital one week sales, with 636,000, beating the previous record Flo Rida had set with Low. Sugar, the second single off the album, is getting massive radio spins. It’s interesting, however, that an album titled Route of Overcoming The Struggle has two singles out that have nothing to do with struggle or overcoming it. Maybe that’s what his critics mean when they say he’s is contrary. But love him or hate him… he is riding the flo and the topping the charts – even if what he does is largely Hip Pop or Pop Rapping. The clubbers and the ladies who drop it low, don’t care one bit and they can’t get enough of him!
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| Last Updated on Sunday, 07 June 2009 03:50 |
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