Flo Rida

With his debut album, Flo Rida captures the Miami club music zeitgeist of 2008. The beats are paradoxically dramatic claptrap denoted by the rattling pitter of snares and soaring "cocaine" synths. The aesthetic is the perfect foil to Flo Rida's tense flow, which simultaneously sneers at the haters while leering at their ladies. It's primal, immediate dancefloor decadence, sinister in its taunting sexuality. You get the feeling that if Flo Rida could get his mind off his money and his libido, he would conquer the world. But then, maybe the rapper is taking over one "apple bottom" at a time.

You probably know this Miami MC from "Low," a club jam about pursuing a girl in Apple
Bottoms jeans — it spent ten weeks at Number One on the Hot 100. For much of his debut
album, Flo Rida seems like he's trying to match the broad appeal of "Low," but he has only
limited success: Big, brawling cuts like "Priceless," an homage to the cash lining Flo's
pockets, are just generic pop rap, relying on speedy rhymes, slick grooves and... More >