A Roundhead by John Pettie

"Roundhead" was the name given to the supporters of the Parliament during the English Civil War. Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against King Charles I and his supporters, the Cavaliers (Royalists), who claimed absolute power and the divine right of kings.^[1] The goal of the Roundhead party was to give the Parliament supreme control over executive administration.^[2]

Most Roundheads appear to have sought a constitutional monarchy, in place of the absolutist monarchy sought by Charles I. However, at the end of the Second Civil War in 1649, public antipathy towards the king was high enough to allow republican Roundhead leaders such as Oliver Cromwell to abolish the monarchy completely and establish the republican Commonwealth. The Roundhead commander-in-chief of the first Civil War, Lord Fairfax, remained a supporter of constitutional monarchy, as did many other Roundhead leaders such as Edward Montagu.

England's many Puritans and Presbyterians were almost invariably Roundhead supporters, as were many smaller religious groups such as the Independents. However many Roundheads were Church of England, as were many Cavaliers.

Roundhead political factions included Diggers, Levellers and Fifth Monarchists.

Origins and background[link]

Some of the Puritans, but by no means all, wore their hair closely cropped round the head, and there was thus an obvious contrast between them and the men of courtly fashion with their long ringlets.^[3]

During the war and for a time afterwards Roundhead was a term of derision^[3]—in the New Model Army it was a punishable offence to call a fellow soldier a Roundhead.^[4] This contrasted with the term Cavalier to describe supporters of the Royalist cause. Cavalier also started out as a pejorative term—the first proponents used it to compare members of the Royalist party with Spanish Caballeros who had abused Dutch Protestants during the reign of Elizabeth I—but unlike Roundhead, Cavalier was embraced by those who were the target of the epithet and used by them to describe themselves.^[4]

Roundheads appears to have been first used as a term of derision toward the end of 1641, when the debates in Parliament in the Bishops Exclusion Bill were causing riots at Westminster. One authority said of the crowd which gathered there, "They had the hair of their heads very few of them longer than their ears, whereupon it came to pass that those who usually with their cries attended at Westminster were by a nickname called Roundheads".^[3] The demonstrators included London apprentices and Roundhead was a term of derision for them because the regulations to which they had agreed included a provision for closely cropped hair.^[4]

According to John Rushworth the word was first used on 27 December 1641 by a disbanded officer named David Hide, who during a riot is reported to have drawn his sword and said he would "cut the throat of those round-headed dogs that bawled against bishops".^[5]

However, Richard Baxter ascribes the origin of the term to a remark made by Queen Henrietta Maria at the trial of the Earl of Strafford earlier that year; referring to John Pym, she asked who the Roundheaded man was.^[3]

The principal advisor to Charles II, the Earl of Clarendon remarked on the matter, "and from those contestations the two terms of Roundhead and Cavalier grew to be received in discourse, ... they who were looked upon as servants to the king being then called Cavaliers, and the other of the rabble contemned and despised under the name of Roundheads."^[6]

Ironically, after Anglican Archbishop Laud made a statute in 1636 instructing all clergy to wear short hair, many Puritans rebelled to show their contempt for his authority and began to grow their hair even longer (as can be seen on their portraits)^[7] though they continued to be known as Roundheads. The longer hair was more common among the "Independent" and "high ranking" Puritans (which included Cromwell), especially toward the end of the Protectorate, while the "Presbyterian" (i.e. non-Independent) faction, and the military rank-and-file, continued to abhor long hair. By the end of this period some Independent Puritans were again derisively using the term Roundhead to refer to the Presbyterian Puritans.^[8]

Roundhead remained in use to describe those with republican tendencies up until the Exclusion Bill crisis of 1678–1681; the term was then superseded by Whig, initially another term with pejorative connotations. Likewise during Exclusion Bill crisis, the term Cavalier was replaced with Tory, a term introduced by the opponents of the Tories, and also initially a pejorative term.^[9]

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Macaulay, Thomas Babington (1856). The History of England from the Accession of James II. 1. New York: Harper & Brothers. pp. 105. ISBN 0-543-93129-3. http://books.google.com/books?id=ehoPAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA105&dq=Roundhead+Civil+War&ie=ISO-8859-1. 
• Hanbury, Benjamin (1844). Historical Memorials Relating to the Independents Or Congregationalists: From Their Rise to the Restoration of the Monarchy. 3. pp. 118, 635. 
• Hunt, John (2010) [1870]. Religious Thought in England, from the Reformation to the End of Last Century; A Contribution to the History of Theology. 2. General Books LLC. p. 5. ISBN 1-150-98096-6. 
• Roberts, Chris (2006). Heavy Words Lightly Thrown: The Reason Behind Rhyme. Thorndike Press. ISBN 0-7862-8517-6. 
• Worden, Blair (2009). The English Civil Wars 1640–1660. London: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-100694-3. 

Attribution

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Anonymous (1911). "Roundhead". In Chisholm, Hugh. Encyclopædia Britannica. 23 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 772. http://www.archive.org/stream/encyclopaediabri23chisrich#page/771/mode/1up. 

A bounty hunter captures fugitives for a monetary reward (bounty). Other names, mainly used in the United States, include bail enforcement agent and fugitive recovery agent.

Laws in the U.S.[link]

In the United States legal system, the 1873 U.S. Supreme Court case Taylor v. Taintor, 16 Wall (83 U.S. 366, 21 L.Ed. 287), is cited as having established that the person into whose custody an accused is remanded as part of the accuser's bail has sweeping rights to that person (although this may have been accurate at the time the decision was reached, the portion cited was obiter dictum and has no binding precedential value). Most bounty hunters are employed by bail bondsmen: the bounty hunter is paid about 10% of the bail the fugitive initially paid. If the fugitive eludes bail, the bondsman, not the bounty hunter, is responsible for the remainder of the fugitive's bail. This is a way of ensuring his clients arrive at trial. In the United States, bounty hunters claim to catch 31,500 bail jumpers per year, about 90% of people who jump bail.^[1]

Bounty hunters are sometimes called "skiptracers", but this usage can be misleading. While bounty hunters are often skiptracers as well, skiptracing generally refers to the process of searching for an individual through less direct methods than active pursuit and apprehension, such as spies or debt collectors. It is a civil matter and does not always imply criminal conduct on the part of the individual being traced.

In the United States of America, bounty hunters have varying levels of authority in their duties with regard to their targets depending on which states they operate in. As opined in Taylor v. Taintor, and barring restrictions applicable state by state, a bounty hunter can enter the fugitive's private property without a warrant in order to execute a re-arrest. They cannot, however, enter the property of anyone other than the fugitive without a warrant or the owner's permission.

In some states, bounty hunters do not undergo any formal training, and are generally unlicensed, only requiring sanction from a bail bondsman to operate. In other states, however, they are held to varying standards of training and license. State legal requirements are often imposed on out-of-state bounty hunters, meaning a suspect could temporarily escape rearrest by entering a state in which the bail agent has limited or no jurisdiction.

Connecticut[link]

The State of Connecticut has a detailed licensing process which requires any person who wants to engage in the business as a bail enforcement agent (bounty hunter) must first obtain a professional license from the Commissioner of Public Safety; specifically detailing that "No person shall, as surety on a bond in a criminal proceeding or as an agent of such surety, engage in the business of taking or attempting to take into custody the principal on the bond who has failed to appear in court and for whom a re-arrest warrant or capias has been issued unless such person is licensed as a bail enforcement agent". Connecticut has strict standards which require Bail Enforcement Agents to pass an extensive background check and, while engaging in fugitive recovery operations, be uniformed, notify the local police barrack, wear a badge, and only carry licensed and approved firearms, including handguns and long guns which are permitted. Recently Connecticut State Police converted their Bail Enforcement Agent licensing unit to reflect the important role Bail Enforcement Agents play in the Connecticut criminal justice system; placing them in the newly defined Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection.^[2]

Several schools in Connecticut have obtained certification by the Connecticut State Police to pre-license Bail Enforcement Agents in a minimum of 20 hours of Criminal Justice training and a minimum of eight hours of firearms training. Some of the more advanced schools offer specialized training in the area of tactical firearms to prepare BEA's for conducting dangerous recovery operations.^[3]

Kentucky[link]

Kentucky prohibits bounty hunting in any form. Only a peace officer may make an arrest on a warrant that is issued in NCIC.^[4] This is because the state does not have a system of bail bondsmen.

Louisiana[link]

Louisiana requires bounty hunters to wear clothing identifying them as such.^[4]

Texas[link]

A Texas bounty hunter is required to be a peace officer, Level III (armed) security officer, or a private investigator.^{[citation needed]}

Florida[link]

In Florida you must obtain a "limited surety agent" license from the Florida Department of Financial Services, Bureau of Agent and Agency Licensing, in order to legally apprehend bail fugitives.

International laws and legal protection[link]

Bounty hunters will run into serious legal problems if they try to get fugitives from other countries. Laws in nearly all countries outside the U.S. will judge the re-arrest of any fugitive by private persons as kidnapping, or the bail agent may incur the punishments of some other serious crime if local and international laws are broken by them.^{[clarification needed]} While the United States government generally allows the activities of bounty hunters in the United States, the government in other sovereign nations is not as tolerant of these activities when they are legally a felony.^[5]

Noted bounty hunter Duane "Dog" Chapman (star of the TV series Dog the Bounty Hunter) was arrested in Mexico after he apprehended the multi-millionaire rapist and fugitive Andrew Luster. Chapman was subsequently released and returned to the U.S.^[1] Chapman himself was later declared a fugitive by a Mexican prosecutor and was subsequently arrested in the United States to be extradited back to Mexico. Chapman maintains that under Mexico's citizen arrest law, he and his crew acted under proper policy.

Daniel Kear of Fairfax, Virginia pursued and apprehended Sidney Jaffe at a residence in Canada and returned him to Florida to face trial. Kear was extradited to Canada in 1983, and convicted of kidnapping.^[5]

Several bounty hunters have also been arrested for killing the fugitive or apprehending the wrong individuals, mistaking innocent people for fugitives.^[6]

Unlike police officers, they have no legal protections against injuries to non-fugitives and few legal protections against injuries to their targets.

In a Texas case, bounty hunters Richard James and his partner DG Pearson were arrested in 2001 for felony charges during an arrest. The charges were levied by the fugitive and his family, but were later dismissed against the hunters after the fugitive's wife shot a deputy sheriff in another arrest attempt of the fugitive by the county sheriff's department. The hunters sued the fugitive and family, winning the civil suit for malicious prosecution with a judgment amount of $1.5 million.^{[citation needed]}

Bounty hunting in Rhodesia[link]

During the Rhodesian Bush War, cattle rustling reached epidemic proportions in the late 1970s. This was part of a twofold strategy of the guerrillas against the white minority government in Salisbury. First, it led to starvation in the Tribal Trust Lands; second, it negatively affected the economy of Rhodesia. Since the Army and the British South Africa Police were overstretched on three fronts, soon mercenaries were hired to confront the rustlers. They were called Range Detectives, and most of them were Vietnam veterans, some of them members of The Crippled Eagles. Payment was roughly 7 Rhodesian dollars a day, and a 750 Rhodesian dollar bonus for each rustler caught.^[7]

In fiction[link]

Bounty hunting has been adopted by several action-oriented vehicles, including Westerns, science fiction, fantasy and stories set in modern times. Typically, hunters are depicted as assisting law enforcement agencies in the apprehension of wanted criminals, but also as mercenaries who give their services to powerful criminal figures rather than the proper authorities. Such characters have appeared in books, TV series, movies, comics and games from around the world. These include characters like Rick Deckard from Blade Runner; Boba Fett from the "Star Wars" movies; Reno Raines in the TV series Renegade; Rally Vincent of the manga Gunsmith Cats; Jubal Early from the Firefly franchise; Samus Aran from the Metroid video game series; and several characters in Cowboy Bebop.

• In Westerns, bounty hunters are commonly depicted as loners, cynical yet romantic. The first depiction of the occupation in film was André de Toth's The Bounty Hunter^{[citation needed]} in 1954 starring Randolph Scott.

• Steve McQueen played bounty hunter Josh Randall in the television series Wanted: Dead or Alive for three seasons, making him a star.^[8] The series was followed many years later by a film sequel — Wanted: Dead or Alive (1987) — in which Rutger Hauer played Nick Randall, Josh Randall's grandson. McQueen's final film was The Hunter, a biography of modern day bounty hunter Ralph "Papa" Thorsen.

• The Sergio Leone film For a Few Dollars More starred Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef as bounty hunters chasing the same criminal, but with different motivations for pursuing their target.

• In the Philip K. Dick novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968), the character Rick Deckard is a bounty hunter who is tasked with "retiring" escaped androids. In the film adaptation, which was retitled Blade Runner (1982), the bounty hunters are called blade runners.

• Chasseur de primes (French for "bounty hunter") is a Belgian comics adventure in the popular Lucky Luke series which is set in the Old West. It was published in book form in 1972. In this story, bounty hunters are presented as being shunned and despised by society since their motivation to capture outlaws is based more on greed than an actual love for justice. An example is when a bounty hunter orders a drink at the saloon and the barman contemptuously pours it out on the bar rather than in a glass. The book has been published in English.

• Bounty hunting is depicted as a common trade in the Star Wars franchise, with such characters as Jango and Boba Fett, Greedo, IG-88, Zam Wesell and Cad Bane. Another is Valance the Hunter, a cyborg, who played an important role in the early Marvel Comics adaptations of the series in the late 1970s, confronting, and almost defeating, both Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader. "Bounty Hunter" is also one of four playable classes for the Imperials's faction in BioWare's MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic.

• Strontium Dog is a British science fiction comic series set in the future in which physically deformed mutated humans work as bounty hunters for the Search/Destroy Agency, which answers to the galactic police force.

• In the television series The Fall Guy, Lee Majors played a Hollywood stunt man who takes bounty hunting assignments on the side (which is the focus of each episode).

• The television show MacGyver features a family of bounty hunters (brothers Jesse, Frank and Billy) as recurring characters.

• In the 1988 film Midnight Run, Robert De Niro plays a modern day bounty hunter, who is trying to bring in a mob accountant played by Charles Grodin.

• In the 1993 film Bounty Tracker, Lorenzo Lamas is a bounty hunter trying to avenge his brother's murder by catching the hitman.

• In the 1994 anime OVA Iria: Zeiram the Animation, the protagonist Iria is an apprentice bounty hunter, as are her brother Glen, their partner Bob, and Iria's rival Fujikuro.

• In the Stephanie Plum novels, written by Janet Evanovich, the main character is a bounty hunter described as "incredibly average and yet heroic if necessary" by the author. There are 15 full length novels and 4 holiday edition novellas. Each book revolves around Stephanie trying to catch her main bounty while destroying cars, getting help from love interests, and dealing with her abnormal family.

• In the Japanese manga One Piece, the character Roronoa Zoro is a bounty hunter who later became a pirate.

• In the Japanese manga Black Cat, the story revolves around assassins and bounty hunters (called sweepers). The main character Train Heartnet, is an assassin with the Chrono Numbers. He is later convinced by woman who guides him to leave them to be a sweeper (bounty hunter) with Sven Vollfied and then later a 11 year old girl cloned weapon named Eve, and other sweepers.

• In the thriller Scarecrow, written by Matthew Reilly, the main character, Schofield, is pursued by bounty hunters and is fiercely protected by Aloysius Knight, the "Black Knight", who is himself a bounty hunter.

• In Ben 10, the main antagonist called Vilgax, send some bounty hunters to take an powerful technology device called "The Omnitrix"; they are Sixsix, Kraab, and Tetrax. However, Tetrax decided to protect the device.

• In 2005, the real-life bounty hunter Domino Harvey was portrayed by Keira Knightley in the film Domino. Although the film was only loosely based on the life of Harvey, making it partially fictitious, it helped to illustrate the rising popularity of bounty hunters in modern U.S. culture.^{[citation needed]}

• In the animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender, June is a bounty hunter hired by Zuko (during the first season) to hunt down Avatar Aang.

• In the video game Need for Speed: Carbon, former Sgt. Cross (from Need for Speed: Most Wanted) returns as a bounty hunter to arrest the player.

• In the Simpsons episode Sex, Pies and Idiot Scrapes Homer Simpson and Ned Flanders work as bounty hunters.

• In the 2008 Transformers Animated series, the former Autobot Lockdown quit the Elite Guard and became a bounty hunter for both factions.

• In the 2010 movie The Bounty Hunter the main character Milo must chase down his ex-wife Nicole after she assaults a police officer.

See also[link]

• Skiptrace
• Thief-taker
• False arrest
• United States Marshals Service#Fugitive programs

Notes[link]

External links[link]

• National Association of Fugitive Recovery Agents (NAFRA™)
• National Association of Bail Bond Investigators (NABBI™)
• Bounty Hunters Bounty Huners - TSI Swiss National TV Documentary on Bail Agent/Bounty Hunters
• Epstein, Edward "House OKs ban on licenses for illegal immigrants; Bill also encourages bounty hunters to track down those ordered deported" San Francisco Chronicle February 11, 2005
• Bounty Hunting at HowStuffWorks

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