Flo Rida’s eight-song release
Only One Flo, Pt. 1 doesn’t come clearly labeled “EP” or “LP,” because the music industry just doesn’t care for such distinctions in the digital age. These kids will just take what they want anyway, but whatever the reason, this short and sweet format saves fans the trouble of suffering through filler, even if things like cohesion and flow are sacrificed.
Only One Flo, Pt. 1 flings extremely polished club tracks at the listener without a breather, chilling a bit on the “for the ladies” number “Come with Me,” but even this slow track is just too grand to consider low-key. Otherwise, this is club-aimed, hip-hop-pop running from the
Kevin Rudolf (“On and On”) to the
David Guetta (“Club Can’t Handle Me”) sides of the spectrum. The “California Gurls” sound-alike “Who Dat Girl” was created by the polished millionaire trifecta of
Akon, Dr. Luke, and
Bruno Mars, among others, and while the credits on some tracks run as long as a
Twista lyric sheet, the high-caliber results put any “too many cooks” issues to rest.
Flo Rida himself does a fine job getting the party started with his minimal, often fun rhymes, and when he goes back to the ‘80s sample mine -- before it was
Dead or Alive for “Right Round” -- and comes up with an even bigger nugget of gold -- this time it’s
George Kranz and
Yello for “Turn Around (5, 4, 3, 2, 1)” -- it’s proof the formula still works. With the high-gloss
Flo Rida, less is more, meaning this eight-tracker is entirely right-sized. ~ David Jeffries