Q&A with Flo Rida

Photo Credit: Wendy Hu

He’s been tearing up the charts with current single “Right Round” and who can forget 2008 hit, “Low?" Flo Rida chatted last week in Zootopia’s press room about his recent single, “Sugar” as well as starting his career touring with 2 Live Crew. Read on for more.

You sample a lot of material on your tracks. How do you decide what to feature in your songs?
I’m always trying different things. I’m a big fan of OutKast. They always try to broaden the horizon every time they drop an album and that’s what I do. It could have been me sampling some blues music or anything. It’s all about the soul and if the record gives me goose bumps after complete.

What songs are you looking forward to this summer?
Definitely my song with Nelly Furtado [“Jump”]. It’s the lead single for a new movie called, G4. We’re actually going to shoot the video in a couple of weeks and it’s definitely going to be huge. “Available” is a new single I have dropping as well with Akon.

Tell me about your current single “Sugar.”
I feel like the ladies around the room like sugar to be sweet. Sampling this Eiffel 65 record was definitely something I loved and I enjoyed. I love doing it at shows because the crowd definitely gets hyped and it’s a great response record.

When was the moment you realized that music was what you wanted to do as a career?
I actually got a chance to open up for Scarface at a nightclub and some guys from 2 Live Crew were there and they asked me to go to Hawaii. Knowing there were things I could do like that definitely motivated me.

Your song “Right Round” broke records for digital downloads. What do you feel about digital downloads vs. going to the store and buying the full album?
Some people are not fortunate enough to go out. There’s a recession right now, so if they can go online and order records than I think it’s a great thing.

What’s your guilty pleasure and why?
We’re gonna keep that on the [singing] low, low, low.

What’s it like performing in front of thousands of fans?
Wow. Just to feel the aura. I always think back to when I didn’t have a record deal. And now to put a smile on the world’s face, I can’t even explain it. It’s crazy.