About Flo Rida
Flo Rida was born in
1979 as Tramar Dillard,
in the city of Opa Locka,
Florida. Dillard was
involved with music and
rapping from an early
age. He was a part of
the band 2 Live Crew
while in his teens, but
later formed his own
band known as
Groundhoggz, along with
some friends. The
rapper’s music with
2Live Crew did attract
some attention; however,
Dillard was not able to
make significant
progress in the music
industry around this
time and decided to
stick to University
while pursuing other
jobs. Dillard graduated
from high school in
1998, and went on to
study International
Business Management at
the University of
Nevada, Las Vegas, for
two years. Around this
time Dillard returned to
Flo Rida in a bid to
pursue his career in
music, and was
approached by Poe Boy
Entertainment, an
independent label. In
2007, Dillard started
connecting with other
Floridian rappers such
as Trick Daddy, T Pain,
Rick Ross, and Trina.
This is also when he
signed with Poe Boy
Entertainment.
Flo Rida’s first major
release during this time
was a street single
entitled Birthday,
featuring Rick Ross. He
featured on DJ Khaled’s
album We the Best, with
the track Bitch I’m from
Dade Country. The album
also featured other
artists like Trina,
Trick Daddy, C-Ride and
Dre.
2008 saw the release of
Flo Rida’s debut album
Mail On Sunday. Low
feat. T Pain, a single
from the album, made it
straight to #1 on the
Billboard Hot 100. Low
was Flo Rida’s ticket to
worldwide acclaim and
success. The track was
nominated for several
awards including the
Teen Choice Awards for
2008 Choice Music, and
the 2009 Grammy for Best
Rap/Sung Collaboration.
It won the people’s
choice award for
favourite hip hop song
in 2009. The other three
singles, Elevator feat.
Timbaland, In The Ayer
feat. Will.i.am, and
Roll feat. Sean Kingston
all went to become chart
breaking hits.
Mail On Sunday was a
huge success, following
which Flo Rida
collaborated with
several R&B, Pop and Rap
artists like Madonna on
the remix of 4 Minutes,
We Break the Dawn by
Michelle Williams, Lady
Gaga’s album The Fame,
and DJ Felli Fel on the
track Feel It. the
rapper was also part of
the Fox Series So You
Think You Can Dance in
2008.
His second album
R.O.O.T.S (Route for
Overcoming The Struggle)
was released in March
2009. Tracks on the
album have been produced
by the likes of Dr Luke,
J Rock and DJ Montay.
Right Round, the single
from R.O.O.T.S gave Flo
Rida another #1 single.
Sugar the second single
from the album feat.
Wynter Gordon made it #5
on the Billboard Hot
100. The album features
several top notch
artists like Akon, Ne-Yo,
Nelly Furtado, Wyclef
Jean.
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