Flo Rida Rides High With Success Of "Low"
Thursday May 08, 2008 @ 05:00 PM
By: ChartAttack.com Staff

Flo Rida

Flo Rida's "Low," featuring T-Pain, hit #1 in the U.S. and Canada earlier this year. The fact that it was the first single from his Mail On Sunday debut album made the accomplishment even more impressive.

"I expected it to be a big record, but not at this magnitude," he says. "I didn't know that, I mean, I couldn't have predicted that it would be this big."

When the Miami-Dade County native signed with Poe Boy Entertainment last year, he joined the ranks of some of the hottest rappers in the game right now, including Rick Ross, Trina and Trick Daddy. Sean Kingston, Brisco and Lil Wayne appeared on the disc, which makes you wonder how this relative nobody did it.

"I've been doing my thing for a long time, but as far as those people being acquainted with me, I hadn't really met them until this present time," says Rida. "I think that having a record such as 'Low' and then when these guys listened to the mix, and they heard my mixtape, they started to pay attention to me."

For his second single, "Elevator," Rida collaborated with Timbaland, who also produced the track. The pairing was put together by Poe Boy CEO Elric "E-Class" Prince.

"I was just in the studio working on the record and E-Class got word that I wanted to work with Timbaland, so he made a phone call and we went to The Hit Factory and did it," says Rida. "That was a monumental moment for me because we recorded the record in the same studio him and Jay-Z recorded 'Dirt Off Your Shoulders,' so I was just amazed at that alone."

While some critics say Mail On Sunday's beats and hooks are more memorable than Rida's rhymes, it's one of the biggest selling albums so far this year. As such, this newcomer is going to ride that success as long as he can.

"Me and T-Pain, I mean we had the biggest record that he ever had, so definitely I don't take this for granted. This is a nice little run for myself so far, you know, but I look forward to doing some bigger and better things. This is like a movie to me."

Flo Rida was slated to perform at Toronto's Rogers Centre on Friday with Danity Kane, Day 26 and Donny Klang, but the show has been rescheduled to July 14.

—Cheryl Thompson