Flo Rida talks music, preps female rapper protege

NEW YORK (AP) - Flo Rida has sold millions when it comes to hit singles, but his albums have yet to get that kind of love from music fans.

His first two albums haven’t reached gold status, and his latest, “Only One Flo (Part 1),” debuted at No. 107 on the charts earlier this month.

But Flo Rida said he’s not concerned with how many albums he sells.

“You’re trying to sell records, sell singles _ do it all. But I’m not too fond of even just worrying about that,” he said. “The most important thing is just, you know, connecting with the fans on a worldwide basis because a lot of times you’ll see numbers and that doesn’t play a part in the whole worldwide numbers.”

The rapper’s first two CDs, 2008’s “Mail On Sunday” and last year’s “R.O.O.T.S.,” have sold 430,000 and 266,000 units, according to Neilsen SoundScan.

But Flo Rida’s singles have topped the charts and sold millions digitally. His debut song, the party jam “Low,” has sold 5.7 million units, while the up-tempo “Right Round” has moved 4.7 million singles in sales; both songs hit the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

The 30-year-old said selling millions of singles is just as good as selling millions of albums.

“When you look at the numbers it definitely … adds up to that,” he said. “So I’m doing pretty good.”

“Club Can’t Handle Me,” the first single from Flo Rida’s latest album, is quickly approaching double platinum status. It features French disc jockey-producer David Guetta; other guests on the album include Ludacris, Gucci Mane and Akon.

The 8-track album will have a sequel set for release “in the next couple months,” Flo Rida said.

The rapper also has created his own label called International Music Group. He says that with the success of Lil Wayne protege Nicki Minaj, it’s a great time for him to market his own female rapper, 18-year-old Brianna.

“Shout out to Nicki Minaj for doing her thing and just, you know, definitely keeping that lane open,” he said of the animated rapper, whose debut album “Pink Friday” is just 30,000 units from achieving gold status two weeks after being released.

“But Brianna, she’s been doing this for a long time,” he said. “And at this point she’s definitely well-rounded. She has the look, she has the versatility (and) she’s very compassionate about hip-hop.”

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Online:

http://www.officialflo.com

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