Flo Rida: More Than a Hip Hop Superstar

When you’re as successful as hip hop artist Flo Rida, I guess it doesn’t really matter when you do an interview, as long as you get it done. Case in point: he had to talk to me at a time he probably considered ridiculously early, on a Sunday morning from Los Angeles, where he was working on his third album. In fact, I had to wake his manager up just to wake him up so we could get the conversation going.
“How are you?” I asked. I really felt bad about calling so early.

“I’m fine, and yourself?” he answered.

Wow, I thought, wake me up and make me do an interview and I’m not going to be nearly as polite. “I’m so sorry.  Did I wake you up?”  I asked. 

“No, I’m cool.” he said, sounding like he meant it. I was getting more impressed by the second. After all, the guy is number one in like 13 countries, out in L.A. where he’s not only recording but probably partied his ass off the night before, and here I come, some chick from North Dakota calling and waking him up early on a Sunday morning. This dude is awesome.
“So, you’re in L.A. recording right now?” I asked.

“Yeah, I’m actually just cookin’ up a gumbo for my third album, which will be out probably about March,” he said. I like that, cookin’ up a gumbo. “I haven’t come up with a name for it and everything but you know, between times I’m just performing, and touring and everything like that.”
I asked Flo Rida if he has a preference where he records. I knew he had been out to California a couple of times trying to make it big in the music business, but his real break came when he returned home to Florida and signed with Atlantic Records. I wondered what it was like to now go back to L.A. as the top dog…I also wasn’t sure where he had recorded previously and wanted him to know how L.A. compared. It turns out that recording in L.A. probably isn’t half bad.
“I mean, for the most part I have to record where I can,” he said. “Sometimes I find myself recording in hotel rooms because I travel so much.” 

As far as his successful return to L.A., was it going well? “Oh yeah, most definitely! When anyone gets at this height, having this much success is great. I’m going to enjoy it.”
We also talked about his albums—after all, for any genre he’s quick – three albums in three years? 

“It’s not really quick to me,” he said. “When I’m on the road I’m always getting ideas, and that motivates me to record.  Traveling internationally, it just gives you more to talk about…and with that being said, we just grab like six months worth of material and get it to the fans and I’m working everyday and I don’t want to hold back hot music so that’s why we’re getting it out like that…”

That made sense but it was so totally opposite from most artists tell me.  One thing I have learned is that in today’s music business, musicians have to tour. Tours equal money. However, it seems like many artists end up touring so much or becoming so burned out that new material takes forever. Flo Rida was the first musician I talked to that was so damn positive, not just about touring but recording while he was doing it.
Flo Rida is hot not only here in the U.S., he’s huge internationally. He recently toured the military bases overseas and explained how he played for all of the troops and their families. “It was very interesting,” he said. “Got a lot of plaques and everything…I never even dreamed of anything like that. It was an honor for me to perform and put smiles on their faces and for me to show my appreciation that they’re putting their lives on the line every day for us. I definitely enjoyed it.” 

What amazed me was how he sounded when he told me about receiving those plaques. It really stuck out, as if he had been awarded an Oscar. I think it really was more than he ever imagined.
And how does it feel to be this big all over the world? “You know, I just love music but I never knew it would be to this magnitude. Just being in the business and having the success I have has helped me to grow and learn that music can take you beyond your wildest dreams. I get to see the world and I love it. It’s like twelve countries I’m number one in and I’m living twelve lives.”   
While doing research, I noticed some listeners took offense at Flo Rida’s re-use of songs, a technique known as “sampling,” so I asked him about it. 

“Taking 20 to 50 percent of a record and putting your little twist on it like I did the Dead or Alive sample with the ‘Right Round’ record gave me huge success,” he said. “It just shows that I do my homework when it comes to music and I’m very versatile.”

I have to agree. The D.O.A. song ‘Round and Round’ that Flo Rida spoke of came out in 1985. Flo Rida was 5 years old. I was a heck of a lot older and personally, I hated it then and still do. More power to whoever can make the song better. My 13-year-old daughter Jordan, who turned me on to Flo Rida with his first hit, “Low,” has no clue about sampling since she never heard the originals. She just likes the music. It’s about the music. People like the music, plain and simple. Take that, all you haters out there!
Flo Rida boasts a large amount of featured artists on his albums. I assumed that he must be really likable in the business to have so many other musicians work with him.

“The people I work with are very inspirational to me,” he said. “Working with guys like Wyclef, working with Will.I.Am, Timbaland, Lil Wayne, great writers, great artists such as Ne Yo, Nelly Furtado, I enjoyed it. A lot of the time when artists just start out they don’t get the chance to work with who I’ve been fortunate to work with. Hopefully some of their great successes will rub off on me because I look forward to having a lot of longevity.” 

“But why did you get to work with all of those other artists?” I asked again, hoping to get him to say that he’s just that darn good. “I’ve been blessed,” he answered and we both laughed, knowing that he was going to stay humble and it was time for me to ask another question. 
I closed by asking him about the president. “I read in another interview that when you appeared at the MTV Awards in Africa you wore an Obama T-shirt?” 

He corrected me. “No, it was an Obama button-down.” Correction noted!

“Tell me about Obama,” I asked.

“I’m looking forward to him definitely helping America to get back on its feet because you know, it starts at home, and it seems like the way his family is, very family oriented, and I think that’s where it starts, to try and really get the country right…but so far, hip-hop, we support him and he puts a smile on the world’s face because when I go out and I remember when he first got elected and I was just like ‘Give it up for President Obama’ in Japan and then in Europe and they acted like he was their president!”
I felt like as an artist, Flo Rida shared quite a bit with me during our conversation that, for him, took place so early on a Sunday morning in California. But I also felt like I learned something about Flo Rida the person. He was so proud of receiving those plaques from the troops overseas and the way he said “Hip-hop, we support him [Obama] and he puts a smile on the world’s face…” Who would have guessed? Flo Rida, a hip-hop superstar and, I believe, a true Renaissance man.

Questions and comments: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)