Flo Rida – “Turn Around (5,4,3,2,1”) [Official Video]
AllHipHop.com:
Like your most-recent single, “Club Can’t Handle Me,” “Low”
was featured on a soundtrack – Step Up 2: The Streets – as
well as one of your albums – Mail on Sunday. Do you ever feel
uneasy about having your work featured on a soundtrack before the official
release of a proper album?
Flo Rida:
Well, that’s hard for me to say, because – starting out – I was
successful in doing that. I have a great relationship with Disney and
I just want that build, because it feels good to go to a movie and hear
your song playing in the background! [laughing]
AllHipHop.com:
How did that relationship develop?
Flo Rida:
Early on, they got in touch with my A&R, because they needed a song
for Step Up 2: The Streets.
“Low” was very big at the time, and we just worked it out from there.
And then as far as me doing it again, I did the lead single for the
movie G-Force. It was called “Jump.” And when I was
putting out my album, they were putting out a movie, Step Up 3D,
and they asked if I had a record. We went in the studio and let them
hear some of the records, and [“Club Can’t Handle Me”] was the
record they liked. So I have a great relationship with them. They’re
not just people who want to pick a song. They’re really musically inclined,
as well. And it’s a lot more promotion, too.
AllHipHop.com:
When you look at your résumé, and see digital singles sales that exceed
ten million, how does that affect your approach to the traditional business
model?
Flo Rida:
For the most part, it’s just in a whole other level, now. When you’re
about to release a song to the world, you just make sure everything
is lined up. After having success with it, you might want to look and
see if there is a movie coming out and if you can get a single in there,
as well as make sure that you’re ready for iTunes, and everything like
that, because that’s where most of the sales are coming from. Nowadays,
you just want to make sure everything is lined up.
AllHipHop.com:
Having attained so much success with your singles, why bother with an
album?
Flo Rida:
One thing you’ve got to realize is that if people are going to buy these
singles, why not create an album that you feel comfortable with, that
still has that same feeling of an album but could be possibly singles?
So that’s my focus every time that I’m creating an album, because for
one thing, you can say a single is a hot record. Most of the time that’s
the record that people might think is the hottest record, so make sure
the whole album is hot, and therefore you can possibly put out every
record as a single.
AllHipHop.com:
Often times, when people have discussions about ground-breaking and
chart-topping artists, they tend to overlook you, even though you have
one of the best sales records in the game. Do you ever feel underappreciated?
Flo Rida:
I think it’s because they’ve never seen the whole take on me being able
to trot around the world. Most of these people haven’t even been around
the world, so they really don’t do their homework and they don’t know
these type things. There’s not too many people in my lane. It’s like
I created my own lane. A lot of times, even with them making their own
“best of” or “top ten” lists, they don’t get it right. Some
of the people that they put in the top ten are not as good as the ones
that I think should be in the top ten. So if they can’t get it right,
how do I expect them to even know what’s going on in my world? I mean,
a lot of times I don’t even have time to focus on that, because I’m
traveling doing two and three shows a day. I’m in places like Dubai,
Africa, all over the world. So it’s just a blessing, and I look at it
and really laugh.
AllHipHop.com:
Since there are relatively few artists that are operating within your
lane, then what do you think has been your greatest contribution to
the music game?
Flo Rida:
The fact that a lot of times when an artist comes out, they’re always
looking for the next artist. And me, I look forward to having some longevity
in this. Everybody loves to party. At the same time, I’m versatile where
I can still put out my mixtapes and do all of that, still accumulate
fans around the world. A lot of times when people go get records deals,
I hear them say, “I’m looking for the next Flo Rida. I need that
Flo Rida stuff.” They won’t say, like with hip-hop or whatever,
they say “That’s Flo Rida stuff.” I think years from now people
will realize that I definitely created my own lane – without recognizing
it at the time.
AllHipHop.com:
As a journalist, sometimes it is easy to focus on what you’re doing
in the business, but I really want you to talk about your charity, Big
Dreams for Kids. How did it start? And how do you want to see it grow
and develop in the future?
Flo Rida:
Basically growing up in my projects and everything, I was influenced
by different people. There was this one church called Jesus People Ministries,
and they would come out, bring different celebrities out and have them
speak to the kids. They never let the kids forget about putting God
first, but they tell them to dream big; that they made it and you could
possibly do it because these people have come from places similar to
where we grew up. Less fortunate, single parent homes and those kinds
of situations. That has always stayed with me. And now that I’m at
the point where I’m successful, I thought: “Hey, I want to go back
to my projects and talk to the kids.” So I went there and spoke to
the kids. I had big carnival rides out there. Cotton candy. Game where
the kids can win prizes. And every Thanksgiving, every Christmas, and
on different holidays, I come out and I support the kids in the community.
I have different artists come out and perform as well as speak to the
kids, and we just have an extravaganza and just instill in them to continue
to dream big. You know, the sky is the limit. And that’s the greatest
thing, I think, about my music: the fact that I get to travel around
the world and do shows. But sometimes, I’m performing right next to
the slums. So it’s really important for me to go out and put a smile
on their face with more that just my music. I know I receive a lot,
performing and things like that, but to give is better than to receive.
To me, that’s the ultimate feeling.
For
more information on Flo Rida, visit his official
and “follow” him via Twitter [
@official_flo]. Flo Rida’slatest single – “Club
Can’t Handle Me” (featuring David Guetta)
– can be purchased on iTunes as well.
For
more of Clayton Perry’s interview exclusives, visit his digital archive. He can also be
followed via Twitter
[@crperry84].