| Flo Rida | |
|---|---|
Flo Rida in 2009 |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Tramar Dillard |
| Born | December 16, 1979 Carol City, Florida, U.S. |
| Genres | Southern hip hop, Pop rap, R&B, electropop |
| Occupations | Rapper, Songwriter, Actor |
| Years active | 2006–present |
| Labels | Atlantic, Poe Boy |
| Associated acts | Akon, Brisco, Lady Gaga, Timbaland, David Guetta, Kesha, T-Pain, Nicki Minaj , Taio Cruz |
| Website | officialflo.com |
Tramar Dillard (born December 16, 1979),[1] better known by his stage name Flo Rida (pronounced "flow ride-a"), is an American rapper and singer-songwriter. He released his debut album, Mail on Sunday, in March 2008. His debut single "Low", featuring T-Pain, 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. Since then, he has released his third studio album titled Only One Flo (Part 1), which will see a sequel titled Only One Rida (Part 2).
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Tramar Dillard was born in the 187th Street projects of Carol City, Florida.[1] His 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 while in ninth grade, Dillard formed his own amateur group with some friends called the Groundhoggz.[3] His 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.[4] 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.[4][5] 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.[4] 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.[6]
Flo Rida's first single was "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.[6] "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.[7]
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[8] and 2008 MuchMusic Video Awards in Canada.[9] He appeared on the albums We Global by DJ Khaled, Gutta by Ace Hood, and The Fame by Lady Gaga, among others.
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.[10] 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. 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".[11] "Right Round" sampled "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)", a 1985 hit by Dead or Alive.[12] 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, "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 #1 on the UK Singles Chart in October.[13]
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.[14] Billboard reported that The Only One was to be a double album.[15] "Club Can't Handle Me", produced by David Guetta and inspired by Billy Schwob, was the first official single and reached number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. 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 the girl's single, "Higher".[16] In December 2010, the Associated Press reported that Flo Rida had 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[17] and Git Fresh [18] to International. Lately, Flo Rida has teamed up with the Malaysian singer, Mizz Nina, on a song called Take Over. The first single from Rida's upcoming album, Only One Rida (Part 2), is "Good Feeling", released on August 29, 2011.[19] The songs samples "Levels" by Avicii, which samples Etta James' 1962 song, "Something's Got a Hold On Me". It has peaked at #4 on the Hot 100[20], and even topped the charts in Austria[21], Germany[22], and Scotland[23]. It also reached #1 on the UK R&B chart and the top 5 in ten different countries worldwide.
On June 9, 2011, Flo Rida was arrested in Miami Beach, Florida for DUI and driving with a suspended license.[24][25] Flo Rida was released from jail after he posted $2,000 bail and obtained a signed court order allowing him to travel to Asia for a series of previously scheduled concerts in Bangkok over the weekend.[26]
| Year | Type | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | American Music Awards | Breakthrough Performer[27] | Nominated |
| Favourite Male Hip-Hop Artist | Nominated | ||
| BET Awards | Best New Artist[28] | Nominated | |
| Best Collaboration ("Low" with T-Pain)[29] | Nominated | ||
| BET Hip Hop Awards | Ringtone of the Year ("Low" with T-Pain)[30] | Nominated | |
| Rookie of the Year[31] | Nominated | ||
| Best Hip-Hop Collabo ("Low" with T-Pain)[32] | Nominated | ||
| MuchMusic Video Awards | Best International Video ("Low" with T-Pain)[33] | 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)[34] | Nominated | ||
| Ozone Awards | Breathrough Artist[35] | Nominated | |
| Club Banger of the Year ("Low" with T-Pain) | Nominated | ||
| Teen Choice Awards | Choice Breakout Artist[36] | Nominated | |
| Choice Rap Artist | Nominated | ||
| Choice Hook-Up ("Low" with T-Pain) | Nominated | ||
| 2009 | ARIA Music Awards | Breakthrough Artist Single ("Running Back" with Jessica Mauboy)[37] | Nominated |
| Highest Selling Single ("Running Back" with Jessica Mauboy) | Won | ||
| APRA Awards | Urban Work of the Year ("Running Back" with Jessica Mauboy)[38] | 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)[39] | Nominated | |
| MTV Australia Awards | Best Video ("Low" with T-Pain) | Nominated | |
| Best Collaboration ("Running Back" with Jessica Mauboy)[40] | Nominated | ||
| MTV Video Music Awards | Best Hip-Hop Video ("Right Round" with Kesha)[41] | Nominated | |
| NT Indigenous Music Awards | Single Release of the Year ("Running Back" with Jessica Mauboy)[42] | Won | |
| People's Choice Awards | Favourite Hip-Hop Song ("Low" with T-Pain)[43] | 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.)[44] | Nominated | |
| People's Choice Awards | Hip-Hop Artist of the Year | Nominated |
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