Carol City, FL · hip-hop · pop

Flo Rida

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The hook factory of late-2000s radio — 'Low' alone soundtracked a billion parties.

Flo Rida is the stage name of Tramar Lacel Dillard, born September 16, 1979, in the Carol City neighbourhood of Miami Gardens, Florida. One of eight children, he joined the amateur rap group the GroundHoggz as a teenager and later worked as a hype man for Fresh Kid Ice of 2 Live Crew. The death of his sister Julia pushed him to take music seriously; he later said he was doing it for her.

He broke through in 2007 with "Low," featuring T-Pain, which held the US number one spot for ten weeks and broke the record for digital download sales at the time. His debut album, Mail on Sunday (2008), reached number four in the US. His records fused rap verses with heavily hooked, dance-oriented choruses, leaning on guest vocalists and big sampled melodies rather than dense lyricism.

Singles including "Right Round," "Club Can't Handle Me," "Wild Ones," "Whistle" and "G.D.F.R." kept him on pop radio for the better part of a decade, spread across albums such as R.O.O.T.S., Only One Flo (Part 1) and Wild Ones. He has sold more than 80 million records worldwide.

In 2021 he represented San Marino at the Eurovision Song Contest alongside Italian singer Senhit. Live, the emphasis remains on the singles and on audience participation, the format that built his career in the first place.

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