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Born one of eight siblings, Dillard’s first move into the musical came when he joined the amateur rap group GroundHoggz when still in ninth grade. Formed of members Flo Rida, 1Bred, Key Lime and Fist, the four-man group remained together for eight years, until the rapper signed with Poe Boy in 2006. The rapper’s debut single “Birthday” was released in 2006 featuring Rick Ross, and was followed by a guest appearance on DJ Khaled’s album “We the Best” on the single “Bitch I’m from Dade County”.
Flo Rida’s debut album “Mail of Sunday” arrived in March 2008, spawning the singles “Low”, which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, “Elevator” featuring Timbaland, “In the Ayer”, and “Roll”. The album featured a host of guest appearances including will.i.am, Sean Kingston and Lil Wayne, and proved Flo Rida’s viability for chart success. Before the release of his sophomore album the rapper made cameo appearances on the singles “Move Shake Drop” by DJ Laz, “We Break the Dawn” by Michelle Williams, as well as “Running Back” by Jessica Mauboy, among others.
“R.O.O.T.S.” arrived in March 2009 and debuted at No. 8 on the Billboard 200. The album’s lead single “Right Round”, which sampled the Dead or Alive hit “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)”, broke the record for most digital downloads in one week with 636,000 downloads. The rapper subsequently released the singles “Sugar” featuring Wynter Gordon, “Jump” featuring Nelly Furtado, and “Be on You” featuring Ne-Yo. Also in 2009 Flo Rida appeared on the debut single of the UK’s “The X Factor” winning Alexandre Burke, “Bad Boys”, which debuted at No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart.
Dillard’s third full length album, “Only One Flo (Part 1)” was released November 2010 spawning the singles “Come With Me”, “Turn Around (5, 4, 3, 2, 1)”, and “Who Dat Girl”. In December 2010 Flo Rida started his own label International Music Group later signing 18-year-old rapper Brianna and Git Fresh. Dillard has subsequently released the album “Wild Ones” in 2012, which shot to No. 1 in 20 countries and spawned the No. 1 single “Levels”.
Flo Rida has been around rap for a while so it's no surprise that he's gotten better and better over the years – but what really impresses me about his live performances is the fact that he really engages with the audience and makes them feel welcome from the very moment he enters the stage.
It kind of makes me sad that many people know of his songs because they have heard them around, but they don't actually know him because they don't make that connection. But if you get tickets to one of his shows, you'll never forget him – when everything is said and done people will always remember his performances.
While the venues Flo Rida plays tend to be rather large these days, he creates a closeness between him and us in the audience: you'll feel like you're really close to him. Whether it's when he asks us to jump or dance in a certain way once the song hits a certain point, or by asking the audience directly after each song finishes which song they would like to hear him perform next by gauging how loudly they cheer when he asks. He goes to great lengths when performing to make sure that the audience knows he is actually singing (not just lip-syncing) over the music by changing not only his pitch, but his timing to the song, so that when he plays "I Get A Good feeling" it's not like just listening to the recording.
He's great at suddenly changing the mood of a show, and there are some light-hearted moments like when he brings on a whistle as a prop when playing "Blow My Whistle"! It's hard to explain how much he makes his shows fit to the fans in the crowd – like getting us to sing certain parts of a song, or asking direct questions and getting us to cheer "yes" or "no", and then using this information to segue into another song that is related to the question so as to ensure that the audience feels a part of the performance and what is happening in it.
Flo Rida isn't just another rap act, his shows aren't just another rap show. Every show is different, and the only way you can really experience that is to go and see him for yourself.
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