Flo Rida

An exuberant rapper/singer with a larger-than-life personality and ability to appeal to listeners across several genres, Flo Rida is ultimately a pop star known for feel-good dance anthems. He established himself as the party king of the late 2000s with global smash hits like "Low" (his first Grammy-nominated recording, featuring <a href="spotify:artist:3aQeKQSyrW4qWr35idm0cy">T-Pain</a>) and "Right Round" (featuring <a href="spotify:artist:6LqNN22kT3074XbTVUrhzX">Kesha</a>), singles from the respective Top Ten U.S. albums Mail on Sunday (2008) and R.O.O.T.S. (2009). The Floridian continued his international success into the next decade with Only One Flo (Part 1) (2010) and Wild Ones (2012) yielding five additional platinum hits like the <a href="spotify:artist:1Cs0zKBU1kc0i8ypK3B9ai">David Guetta</a> collaboration "Club Can't Handle Me," the <a href="spotify:artist:5WUlDfRSoLAfcVSX1WnrxN">Sia</a>-assisted "Wild Ones," and "Whistle." Since releasing My House (2015), an EP containing the smashes "G.D.F.R." and "My House," Flo Rida has been behind a plethora of singles, most notably the gold-certified "Cake" (2016), "Feels Right" (2024), and "Confessions" (2025). The latter two saw Flo continue to court new audiences by collaborating respectively with <a href="spotify:artist:3b8QkneNDz4JHKKKlLgYZg">Florida Georgia Line</a>'s <a href="spotify:artist:46c50yWMo9wiTgVe1VxBbQ">Brian Kelley</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:5t5FqBwTcgKTaWmfEbwQY9">ENHYPEN</a>'s Heeseung and Jake.

Born and raised in suburban Miami, Flo Rida (Tramar Lacel Dillard) got his start as the teenaged hype man for <a href="spotify:artist:58Dx4HPzeOO3dbpD9YYEes">2 Live Crew</a>'s <a href="spotify:artist:1X3bEuAPXVpwBRK9dUPBg9">Fresh Kid Ice</a>. His rap group, the GroundHoggz, appeared throughout <a href="spotify:artist:1X3bEuAPXVpwBRK9dUPBg9">Fresh Kid Ice</a>'s 2004 album Freaky Chinese. On his own, Flo began popping up on high-profile mixtapes by 2006, and the next year he shared the mike on <a href="spotify:artist:0QHgL1lAIqAw0HtD7YldmP">DJ Khaled</a>'s "Bitch I'm from Dade County" with fellow natives <a href="spotify:artist:12FHARd9fY0Tu0ila4Ua25">Trick Daddy</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4PrinKSrmILmo0kERG0Ogn">Trina</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:1sBkRIssrMs1AbVkOJbc7a">Rick Ross</a>. Signed to the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Atlantic%22">Atlantic</a>-distributed <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Poe+Boy%22">Poe Boy</a> label, Flo debuted in October 2007 with "Low," a <a href="spotify:artist:3aQeKQSyrW4qWr35idm0cy">T-Pain</a> collaboration that toped the Billboard Hot 100 for ten weeks and earned two Grammy nominations (for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration and Best Rap Song). The song's ascent coincided with the March 2008 arrival of Mail on Sunday, a party-ready album that also contained the number 16 pop hit "Elevator" (featuring <a href="spotify:artist:5Y5TRrQiqgUO4S36tzjIRZ">Timbaland</a>) and the number nine hit "In the Ayer" (with <a href="spotify:artist:085pc2PYOi8bGKj0PNjekA">will.i.am</a>). Flo quickly followed up in March 2009 with R.O.O.T.S. Short for "Route of Overcoming the Struggle," the album was another major success, producing the chart-topping "Right Round" -- the world's introduction to featured singer <a href="spotify:artist:6LqNN22kT3074XbTVUrhzX">Kesha</a> -- along with the number five hit "Sugar" (with <a href="spotify:artist:4nmrm4zpgJ0RC6aZRSUEjF">Wynter Gordon</a>), and another Top 20 entry, "Be on You" (with <a href="spotify:artist:21E3waRsmPlU7jZsS13rcj">Ne-Yo</a>). R.O.O.T.S. was nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Rap Album.

Flo Rida leaned harder on EDM for his third album, Only One Flo (Part 1), issued in November 2010. <a href="spotify:artist:1Cs0zKBU1kc0i8ypK3B9ai">David Guetta</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1xNmvlEiICkRlRGqlNFZ43">Axwell</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:5CiGnKThu5ctn9pBxv7DGa">Benny Blanco</a> were among the producers, though the set wasn't a total break from rap, given the inclusion of tracks like "Why You Up in Here," a J.U.S.T.I.C.E. league production that added guest verses from <a href="spotify:artist:3ipn9JLAPI5GUEo4y4jcoi">Ludacris</a> and Gucci Man. The <a href="spotify:artist:1Cs0zKBU1kc0i8ypK3B9ai">Guetta</a> collaboration "Club Can't Handle Me" reached number nine on the Hot 100, while "Who Dat Girl," featuring <a href="spotify:artist:0z4gvV4rjIZ9wHck67ucSV">Akon</a>, peaked at 29, giving Flo his eighth Top 40 hit as a headliner. The next album, Wild Ones, was previewed with "Good Feeling," a number three hit helmed by "Right Round" co-producer Dr. Luke and Cirkut, followed by "Wild Ones" itself, a number five hit with <a href="spotify:artist:5WUlDfRSoLAfcVSX1WnrxN">Sia</a>. <a href="spotify:artist:1xNmvlEiICkRlRGqlNFZ43">Axwell</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4yt2wdqvcHygghx9iNUb6i">DJ Frank E</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:1vCWHaC5f2uS3yhpwWbIA6">Avicii</a> likewise ensured Flo's continued warm reception on dancefloors. Third single "Whistle" topped the Hot 100, and "I Cry" followed it into the Top Ten, where it peaked at number six. "Wild Ones" was up for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards. My House, a 2015 EP, put Flo back in the top tier of the Billboard 200 with the platinum singles "G.D.F.R." (featuring <a href="spotify:artist:6d47Z08T4snK50HgTEHo5Z">Sage the Gemini</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:27fy6rHPC58Eo2VUu0iJSG">Lookas</a>), "I Don't Like It, I Love It" (featuring <a href="spotify:artist:4tMJliVd96wXoMVNdcOBHp">Verdine White</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0ZrpamOxcZybMHGg1AYtHP">Robin Thicke</a>), and "My House," the first and third of which also went Top Ten pop.

From 2016 through the mid-2020s, Flo released up to a handful of singles each year, and continued making featured appearances on a frequent basis. He scored a gold certification with 2016's "Cake." In 2021, he and singer Senhit competed in the Eurovision Song Contest by representing San Marino with "Adrenalina." Continuing to focus on feel-good dance music (often with a positive message), Flo Rida simultaneously diversified his network of collaborators -- from country to K-pop -- teaming with <a href="spotify:artist:7sKxqpSqbIzphAKAhrqvlf">Walker Hayes</a> on 2022's "High Heels," <a href="spotify:artist:46c50yWMo9wiTgVe1VxBbQ">Brian Kelley</a> on 2024's "Feels Right (I Love It)," and Heeseung and Jake (of <a href="spotify:artist:5t5FqBwTcgKTaWmfEbwQY9">ENHYPEN</a>) and <a href="spotify:artist:2ZvBn8fdD6m4126BgZ207L">Paul Russell</a> on 2025's "Confessions." ~ Andy Kellman