“Right Round” is a song performed by American rapper Flo Rida featuring pop singer Kesha from R.O.O.T.S., his second studio album. It was released to radio as the album's lead single on January 27, 2009^[2] and was digitally released on February 10 by Poe Boy Entertainment and Atlantic Records.^[3] The song lyrically speaks of developing a crush on a woman at a strip club, while sampling the 1984 Dead or Alive song “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)” in its hook. According to one of the song's writers, the chorus refers to oral sex. Electropop singer Kesha contributed guest vocals to the song, but was only credited internationally. In one of the verses Flo Rida says "She's Taking My Bank, Fool" which is a reference to Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise".

The song received mostly negative reviews from critics, who claimed it was kitsch and misogynistic. However, it was a commercial success, reaching the top ten of the charts in nineteen countries worldwide. In the United States, it became Flo Rida's second number-one single and broke the record for first-week sales when it was released to digital retailers. The single's accompanying music video was directed by Malcolm Jones and nominated for an MTV Video Music Award. It was also used in the end credits of the movie The Hangover.

Background and recording[link]

Kesha's (pictured) was the suggestion of producer Dr. Luke, as the rapper wanted a female voice in the song.

“Right Round” was written by Flo Rida, Dr. Luke, Allan Grigg, Justin Franks, Philip Lawrence, Bruno Mars, Aaron Bay-Schuck, Pete Burns, Steve Coy, Mike Percy and Tim Lever.^[4] It was produced by Luke and Koool Kojak^[4] and features guest vocals from American pop singer Kesha, (who was not credited on the American release of the single). At the end of 2008, Luke was working on a track with Flo Rida called "Right Round" and the two decided they needed a female hook. Luke pulled Ke$ha into the studio to record the vocals.^[5] According to Flo Rida, the song is about "a young lady, she might be in the strip club and she's got my head spinning round, [...] Or any young lady that I might see walking past me that's getting my attention. She got it going on! I'm going crazy over her."^[6]

The song is sampled off of Dead or Alive's 1984 single "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)". Flo Rida explained that he listened to that and similar records growing up as a result of the varying music genres his seven sisters listened to. However, his A&R Aaron Bay-Schuck had been the one to originally come up with the idea.^[7] He told HitQuarters that he had been listening to a shuffle beat produced by DJ Frank E on a CD of potential beats and had kept hearing in his head the melody off the Dead or Alive song over the top of it.^[7] Co-A&R Mike Caren then brought the sample to the attention of Flo Rida.

As R.O.O.T.S. was Flo Rida's second studio album, he wanted to show listeners musical growth by "broaden[ing] my horizons," which was why he decided to record the song.^[8] After Luke produced the sample, the song was recorded.^[9] It was recorded primarily at Conway Studios in Hollywood, California, with additional recording at Atlantic Studios, also located in Hollywood.^[4]

Composition[link]

	"Right Round" noicon A 20-second sample of "Right Round," where Flo Rida and Kesha sing the Dead or Alive-sampling hook and Flo Rida begins the first verse.
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

Musically, "Right Round" is a southern hip hop song.^[10] It uses the recurring pop rap themes of Flo Rida's music;^[11] specifically, similarities were noted between the song and "Low" (2007), with Allmusic reviewer David Jeffries calling "Right Round" its "heir apparent".^[12] The song is "swaggering" and "bass-heavy", according to Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly.^[13] The lyrics discuss being in a strip club with friends and tossing money at a woman performing a striptease. Additionally, the chorus line "You spin my head right round, right round / When you go down, when you go down, down" can be interpreted as a reference to fellatio.^[14] Bruno Mars, co-writer of the song confirmed in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that the song's chorus was referring to oral sex.^[15] The song's sexual themes have been compared to those of "If U Seek Amy" (2009) by Britney Spears.^[16]

Critical reception[link]

Reviews for "Right Round" were mostly negative. A reviewer for The New York Times called the song "[b]ionic and empty".^[17] In a review of R.O.O.T.S., Ken Capobianco of The Boston Globe stated, "His music is pure ear candy that must make Britney [Spears] envious, yet he wants to come off as a thug." He continued that it is unlikely that "Right Round" would have gone over well in Brooklyn in the '80s, calling it "as hard as Jell-O."^[18] Alex Fletcher of Digital Spy stated in his review of the song, "It's pretty difficult to ruin a pop classic, but Flo Rida gives it a pretty good stab here." He added that "Right Round" is "[f]illed with more misogyny than a 1970s working mens' club", and called it "an unpleasant affair that's only saved from the trashcan by its sample." Fletcher concluded, "The fuzzy synths, electro beats and infectious chorus hook sung by Ke$ha are almost enough to fool the casual listener into enjoying themselves. But sadly it's never too long before Flo Rida turns up again to spoil things."^[19] Simon Vozick-Levinson of Entertainment Weekly called the song "a horrendous rap remake of Dead or Alive's 'You Spin Me Round (Like a Record).'" Noting that the song was, at the time, the number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100, he added, "What does all this say about us as a society? Mainly that we really, really enjoy cheesetastic '80s hair-pop hits in whatever form we can get 'em, I guess."^[20]

There were also a few positive reviews. One such review came from Fraser McAlpine of BBC, who opened, "It's one of the fundamental laws of pop, anything which tips a nod to 'You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)' by Dead Or Alive is going to be worth a listen." He continued, "Even though this is just a song written from the perspective of a randy man watching a pole-dancer and bragging about how much money he has [...] in a manner which would make Akon blush, there's just something kind of cute about the whole thing." McAlpine attributed this to the song's "Tigger-beat", explaining, "How can anything too sordid be going on when everyone is bouncing around like they're on spacehoppers?"^[21] Bill Lamb of About.com commented, "You will hear echoes of another pop classic, but the new song stands on its own feet." However, he noted that while pop music fans would appreciate it, hip hop listeners would likely dismiss it, and he added that "[i]t's not groundbreaking by any means".^[16]

Chart performance[link]

Flo Rida performing "Right Round" at the Circus Club in Finland on July 9, 2009.

In the United States, "Right Round" debuted at number seventy-four on the Billboard Hot 100 based solely on airplay.^[22] The next week, it rose sixteen positions to chart at number fifty-eight.^[22] In its third chart week, issue dated February 19, 2009, it jumped fifty-seven positions to the top spot, becoming Flo Rida's second number-one hit after 2007's "Low". That week, it also debuted at the top of the Hot Digital Songs chart with sales of 636,000, breaking the record of first-week sales established only the week before by Eminem, Dr. Dre and 50 Cent's "Crack a Bottle" (418,000).^[23] It remained atop the Hot 100 for six consecutive weeks.^[24] "Right Round" also topped the Pop 100 in the United States, and peaked at the third position on the Hot Rap Tracks chart,^[25] and appeared on the Hot 100's year-end and decade-end charts at positions six and eighty, respectively.^[26][27] By March 12, 2009, the song was certified gold and platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, and by March 31, achieved double-platinum status.^[28] To date, it has been certified triple-platinum by the RIAA.^[28] "Right Round" made its Canadian debut at the seventy-fifth position, moved to the forty-seventh position in its second week, and peaked at the top of the charts—where it spent nine non-consecutive weeks—its third week.^[22] At the end of 2009, it was ranked the number-three song on the Canadian Hot 100.^[29] As of September 2011, it has sold 5,000,000 digital downloads in the USA.^[30]

The song debuted at the top of the Australian ARIA Singles Chart and maintained its position for seven non-consecutive weeks.^[22] It has been certified twice-platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association.^[31] It was the number-five song of the year and appeared on the decade-end chart at number eighteen.^[32][33] In New Zealand, "Right Round" debuted at number nine and moved to number five in its second week. It remained in the top five for four weeks before reaching a peak of number two, where it remained for four consecutive weeks.^[22] The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand has certified the song platinum,^[34] and it was ranked as the seventh most popular song of 2009.^[35]

"Right Round" also performed well in Europe, peaking at the second position on the European Hot 100 Singles chart and at number sixteen on the chart's year-end list.^[36][37] In the United Kingdom, the single debuted at number one on March 8, 2009 (for the week ending March 14, 2009). It then dropped to number two in its second charting week. It remained in the top ten for six weeks.^[22] As of January 2012, the song had sold 505,434 copies there.^[38] In Ireland, it debuted at number four and remained in the top five for four weeks. In its fifth week, it topped the chart and remained at the top position for three consecutive weeks.^[22] Elsewhere in Europe, the song reached the top ten in Austria (where it was certified gold by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry),^[39] Belgium (number one in Wallonia, number two in Flanders), Denmark, the Netherlands, Finland, France, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Germany.^[40]

Music video[link]

The song's accompanying music video was shot in Miami, Florida and directed by Malcolm Jones.^[41] Kesha was asked to appear in the video, but declined; in an interview with Esquire magazine, she said, "They [Flo Rida's team] wanted me in the video, and I said, 'Nah, I want to make my own name for myself.'"^[42] The video begins with Flo Rida standing on a revolving circular platform, while his name appears in gold on a screen behind him. A young woman then joins him on the platform, with shots alternating between the two together and each individually. During the first verse, the screen behind him alternates between images of a rotating globe and locations such as Tokyo, Paris, London and New York City. Shortly after, the silhouettes of three women appear behind Flo Rida while the clip is intercut with shots of a rotating disco ball and several women on a circular bed. Several women are then seen dancing on or around cars while Flo Rida stands in front of them. A waitress comes in to serve them an unidentified beverage. As the video ends, Flo Rida is seen once again on the circular platform while the screen behind him shows a red background with a gold Poe Boy Entertainment sticker.^[43] The video was nominated for Best Hip-Hop Video at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, but lost to Eminem's "We Made You" (2009).^[44]

Track listings and formats[link]

Credits and personnel[link]

Release history[link]

Charts and certifications[link]

See also[link]

• List of best-selling singles worldwide
• List of best-selling singles in the United States
• List of number-one singles in Australia in 2009
• List of Belgian Wallonia Ultratop 40 number-one hits of 2009
• List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 2009 (Canada)
• List of number-one singles of 2009 (Ireland)
• List of number-one singles from the 2000s (UK)
• List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 2009 (U.S.)
• List of Mainstream Top 40 number-one hits of 2009 (U.S.)

References[link]

External links[link]

• "Right Round" music video at MTV.com
• "Right Round" lyrics at Flo Rida's official website

Flo Rida
Flo Rida on the set of "Sugar" in 2009.
Background information
Birth name	Tramar Dillard
Born	(1979-12-16) December 16, 1979 (age 32) Carol City, Florida, U.S.
Genres	Hip hop
Occupations	Rapper, songwriter, actor
Years active	2006–present
Labels	Atlantic, Poe Boy, International Music Group, Strong Arm
Associated acts	Akon, Brisco, Lady Gaga, Timbaland, David Guetta, Kesha, T-Pain, Nicki Minaj , Taio Cruz, Sia Furler, Ne-Yo, Avicii
Website	officialflo.com

Tramar Dillard (born December 16, 1979) better known by his stage name Flo Rida (pronounced  /floʊ ˈraɪdə/), is an American rapper. He released his debut album, Mail on Sunday, in March 2008. His debut single "Low", featuring T-Pain, was a No. 1 hit for ten weeks in United States in early 2008. Two other singles resulted from Mail on Sunday: "Elevator" and "In the Ayer". In 2009, his second album R.O.O.T.S. was released; its most successful single "Right Round" was at the top of the Hot 100 for six weeks. Since then, he has released his third studio album titled Only One Flo (Part 1), which will see a sequel titled Wild Ones.

Biography[link]

Early life and career beginnings[link]

Tramar Dillard was born in the 187th Street projects of Carol City, Florida.^[1] His mother raised him and his seven sisters, some of whom sang in a local gospel group.^[2] Dillard's brother-in-law was a hypeman for local rap group 2 Live Crew, and while in ninth grade, Dillard formed his own amateur group with some friends called the GroundHoggz.^[3] Born and raised in Miami, the GroundHoggz formed in the 187 apartments in Carol City. Similar to Goodie Mob, they were making music for the love of the art and to feed their souls. With only three members, 1Bred, Key Lime, and Fist, they found their missing link when Flo Rida, who lived in the same apartments, spit a verse for them. They were instantly impressed. Together for eight years, they started recording at underground studios in Carver Ranches.^[4] His work with 2 Live Crew member Fresh Kid Ice attracted the attention of DeVante Swing, a member of the band Jodeci. However, he was rejected by several of the major labels, so he sought many other jobs outside of music.^[5] After graduating from high school in 1998, he studied international business management at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas for two years and attended Barry University for two months.^[5][6] He returned to Florida to continue pursuing his music career after receiving a phone call from a representative of the independent label Poe Boy Entertainment.^[5] Dillard signed with Poe Boy in 2006, and as Flo Rida he began affiliating with other artists, such as Rick Ross, Trina, T-Pain, and Trick Daddy. A promotional street single entitled "Birthday", featuring Rick Ross, was his first significant release. He made his debut guest appearance with the song "Bitch I'm from Dade County" on DJ Khaled's album We the Best, which featured Trick Daddy, Trina, Rick Ross, Brisco, C-Ride, and Dre.^[7]

[edit] 2007–08: Mail on Sunday

Rehearsing for the 2008 MuchMusic Video Awards in Toronto.

Flo Rida's first single was "Low", featuring T-Pain. It was his first official single from his debut album Mail On Sunday and the soundtrack to the movie Step Up 2: The Streets. "Low" reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.^[7] "Elevator", featuring Timbaland, "In the Ayer" featuring will.i.am, and "Roll" featuring Sean Kingston followed and all charted on the Hot 100 and other charts.^[8]

T-Pain, who laced the first single, is only one of the many featured guests throughout the album. Timbaland, who produced the second single "Elevator", is also featured on the track. Rick Ross, and Trey Songz made appearances as well.^[9] Lil Wayne has also been added to the list^[9] with assistance on the "American Superstar" track while Sean Kingston appears on the J. R. Rotem-produced "Roll" the concept was created, and co-written by Compton rapper Spitfiya, from The Bullets Production Team, Various other guests include Birdman, Brisco, and Yung Joc. The third single is "In the Ayer" featuring Will.i.am. The fourth single was scheduled to be "Money Right" featuring Brisco, and Rick Ross, but was canceled due to the release of his upcoming second studio album R.O.O.T.S. His second collaboration with T-Pain, "I Bet", as well as his collaboration with Trina, named "Bout It", both didn't make the final tracklist, but were recorded. As for production, J. R. Rotem, DJ Montay, and Timbaland all provided tracks for Mail on Sunday, among others.

After the success of Mail on Sunday, Flo Rida made guest performances on other R&B, rap, and pop singles, including "Move Shake Drop" by DJ Laz, "We Break the Dawn" by Michelle Williams, the remix of "4 Minutes" by Madonna, "Running Back" by Australian R&B singer Jessica Mauboy, "Feel It" by DJ Felli Fel, and the remix of "Speedin'" by Rick Ross. During the summer of 2008, he did live performances on the Fox dance competition program So You Think You Can Dance in the US^[10] and 2008 MuchMusic Video Awards in Canada.^[11] He appeared on the albums We Global by DJ Khaled, Gutta by Ace Hood, and The Fame by Lady Gaga, among others.

[edit] 2009–10: R.O.O.T.S.

Flo Rida performing "Right Round" at the Circus Club in Finland on July 9, 2009.

According to Billboard magazine, Flo Rida began recording his sophomore nine months after Mail On Sunday. The album is titled R.O.O.T.S. and was released on March 31, 2009.^[12] The first single "Right Round" featured Ke$ha and was released for airplay in January 2009. "Right Round" jumped from number 58 to the top spot in one week in late February. The song broke a record for the most digital one week sales in the U.S., with 636,000, beating the previous record he had set himself with "Low".^[13] "Right Round" sampled "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)", a 1985 hit by Dead or Alive.^[14] The second official single was "Sugar", which featured R&B singer Wynter Gordon. The song reached No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Jump" is the third official single and was released on July 27, 2009 in the UK, and July 28, 2009 worldwide.^[15] The song features Canadian singer Nelly Furtado. As of August 13, 2009 it has peaked at number fifty-four in the US, number twenty-seven in Canada, number twenty-one in the UK, and number eighteen in Australia. "Be on You" has been confirmed as the album's fourth official single for a release on October 6, 2009. The song features American singer Ne-Yo. When the album was released the single debuted at number ninety in the US. The song has received airplay since the albums release, and has since peaked at number nineteen in the US, and number fifty-one in the UK. "Available" was going to be released on iTunes but was cancelled. It charted at number 120 in Ireland. The song features Akon. A music video was also shot in mid-2009.^[16] R.O.O.T.S. debuted at number eight on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 55,000 copies in its first week.^[17] As of August, 2009, the album has sold 223,000 copies in the United States, and 536,000 worldwide. By the end of 2009, the album sold 247,000 copies becoming the eighth best selling rap album of 2009.^[18]

Flo Rida made guest performances on "Feel It" by DJ Felli Fel, "Starstruck" by Lady Gaga, and "Feel It" by Three 6 Mafia. "Bad Boys", the first single by winner of British reality show The X Factor Alexandra Burke that featured Flo Rida, debuted at No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart in October.^[19]

[edit] 2010–11: Only One Flo (Part 1)

Flo Rida's third album Only One Flo (Part 1) was released on November 24, 2010. In March 2010, Flo Rida announced on Twitter that the album would be titled The Only One.^[20] Billboard reported that The Only One was to be a double album.^[21] A promo single, titled "Zoosk Girl", which features T-Pain, was released on the internet, though the song is not featured on the album, the single does have its own music video. On June 28, 2010, Flo Rida released the song "Club Can't Handle Me" featuring David Guetta, which was stated to be the official first single for the album. The song was also featured in the Step Up 3D soundtrack.^[22] On November 2, 2010, "Come with Me" was released as the first promo single for the album, along with "Puzzle", produced, and featuring by Electrixx, which isn't featured on the album. On November 16, 2010, "Turn Around (5, 4, 3, 2, 1)" was released as the second official promo single for the album via the iTunes Store.^[23] It debuted on the Australian Singles Chart at number thirty-four on November 29, 2010.^[24] After the release of the album in the UK, "Who Dat Girl" started to receive a strong amount of downloads, thus causing it to debut at number 136^[25] on the UK Singles Chart and chart at a current peak of number thirty-one on the UK R&B Chart.^[26] "Why You Up In Here" was released as the fourth single, and third promo single, on May 11, 2011. The song features Ludacris, Gucci Mane, and Git Fresh.

Flo Rida also made guest appearances on "iYiYi", a song by Australian teen singer Cody Simpson, and on the song "Out My Video" by Bulgarian singer LiLana. Flo Rida collaborated with UK girl group The Saturdays, recording a new version of the girl's single, "Higher".^[27] In December 2010, the Associated Press reported that Flo Rida had created his own label, International Music Group, inspired by Nicki Minaj's signing with Lil Wayne's. He has signed an 18 year-old rapper, Brianna^[28] and Git Fresh^[29] to International. Lately, Flo Rida has teamed up with the Malaysian singer, Mizz Nina, on a song called Take Over.

Driving issues[link]

On June 9, 2011, Flo Rida was arrested in Miami Beach, Florida for DUI and driving with a suspended license.^[30][31] Flo Rida was released from jail after he posted $2,000 bail and obtained a signed court order allowing him to travel to Asia for a series of previously scheduled concerts in Bangkok over the weekend.^[32]

[edit] 2011–present: Wild Ones

Flo Rida performing live in 2012.

The first single from Rida's upcoming album, Wild Ones, originally Only One Rida (Part 2), is "Good Feeling", released on August 29, 2011.^[33] The songs samples "Levels" by Avicii, which samples Etta James' 1962 song, "Something's Got a Hold on Me". Following the death of Etta James on January 20, 2012, Flo Rida dedicated the song in her memory.^[34] The song has peaked at No. 3 on the Hot 100,^[35] topped the charts in Austria,^[36] Germany,^[37] Scotland,^[38] and the UK. It has also reached the top five in nine different countries worldwide.

On April 1, Flo Rida made an appearance at WrestleMania XXVIII and have a segment with Heath Slater, Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks where Heath calls Flo Rida "Florida" and Flo Rida shoves him into a wall; making Tyler and Curt come out laughing at Heath. Later that night Flo Rida performed "Wild Ones" and "Good Feeling" before Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson came out to battle John Cena. On April 6, 2012 and exclusive Australian EP entitled Good Feeling was released in Australia which contains six of his biggest hits and two remixes.^[39] It debuted at No. 21 on the Australian ARIA Albums Chart^[40] On May 22, 2012, Flo Rida performed and closed the show at the first Q102 Springle Ball Concert, the following day he performed "Goin' In" with Jennifer Lopez on the America Idol finale.

Discography[link]

• Mail on Sunday (2008)
• R.O.O.T.S. (2009)
• Only One Flo (Part 1) (2010)
• Wild Ones (2012)

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website