Tramar Lacel Dillard, better known as rapper Flo Rida, has enjoyed numerous weeks atop the charts with such lyrically abundant hits like Low, Sweet Spot, Whistle and Club Can’t Handle Me and now a leaked record company memo has revealed the source of this lyrical magic.
US website Factmag report they have gotten a hold of a genuine email from the rapper’s “team”, sent to prospective songwriters, which lays out the 34-year-old’s brief for lyrics and appeals for ideas to help craft yet another hit.
The email dictates that Flo Rida’s image is “masculine, macho, and iconic” and asks songwriters to avoid such “soft topics” like love or romance. They only exception to that golden rule would be of the writers choose to incorporate a phrase like, “I love this shit”, which is “unromantic” enough to be deemed acceptable.
The Flo Rida team says they love “catch phrases, edgy/sexual double entendres, commands, and HUGGGEEEE melodies” and explains that they look to hits of the past for inspiration, taking concepts that have been the subject of number one hits before and bringing them into the new era.
For example the 2009 Flo Rida tune Jump, shares a name with number one hits from “Van Halen, Pointer Sisters, Kriss Kross and House Of Pain.” There it is, the magic formula. “Masculine, macho, and iconic”. Read the email in full below, via Factmag.
Hey everyone!
I’ve attached a Zip file (Idea & Instrumental) for a Flo Rida idea that the whole team love the melody.. Just needs new lyrics.. Lyric brief is below..Would be great if you had any songwriters who could nail it!
Overall key with Flo Rida is to be masculine, macho, and iconic. Meaning we stay away from soft topics (like “your beautiful” or anything with love in it, unless something nonromantic like “I Love This Shit”).
We try to use concepts that have been #1s before but not interpolate (example “Jump” has been a #1 for Van Halen, Pointer Sisters, Kriss Kross, House Of Pain, and others). We love catch phrases, edgy/sexual double entendres, commands, and HUGGGEEEE melodies + lots of energy.
