“She just turned 21. Now she’s all up in the club having hella fun.”
This is the hook for Flo Rida’s song “21” and the low point of his new album “Only One Flo (Part One).” No Doubt filled the music world’s capacity for the word “hella” in 2001. Unfortunately, the album’s high points don’t get much better.
In fact, the high point is the pair of guest verses by Ludacris and Gucci Mane in the track “Why You Up in Here.” Ludacris lights up the track, and Gucci has a so-so verse, but in comparison to the attempts of the album’s protagonist, he sounds golden.
Aside from the guest verses, the album is unremarkable. “Club Can’t Handle Me,” the album’s single, would be completely forgettable if it weren’t for Top-40 radio’s constantly repeating play list. The lyrics for all this album’s songs are dumb, and other club-oriented artists (like the Black Eyed Peas) put Flo Rida’s beats to shame.
Part of the problem is his inability to draw from his bag of ‘80s samples to create a hit. His hit from last year, “Right Round,” used the 1984 Dead Or Alive song “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)” to be catchy. Flo Rida samples Yello’s “Oh Yeah” (recognizable from its use in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”) in “Turn Around (5,4,3,2,1)” but not for long enough to keep the listener hooked.
The good news is that there are only eight tracks on the album. The bad news is that he built “part one” into the album’s title. It would take a lot for a follow-up record to be worse than this offering, but the odds of it being good are low. There’s only a half hour of music on “Only One Flo,” but it’s a half hour you’ll want back.
