NEW YORK, NY. (Top40 Charts/ Atlantic Records) - Poe Boy/Atlantic recording artist
Flo Rida has made history with his blockbuster new single, "Right Round," shattering the all-time one-week digital single sales record previously held by his own game-changing debut, "Low (Feat. T-Pain)," not to mention marking the highest digital single debut ever. The track - featured on the Miami-based MC's hugely anticipated new album, "R.O.O.T.S." - has sold over 636,000 downloads in the week since its February 10th release, far exceeding the record-setting 467,000 sales week of "Low" in January 2008. What's more, "
Right Round" has broken the record for most downloads sold in the first week of release, set just last week by Eminem's current No 1 hit, "Crack A Bottle (Feat.
Dr. Dre and 50 Cent)." The track currently ranks at No 1 on the SoundScan
Digital Song Chart, iTunes, Amazon, and Rhapsody.
"Right Round" is currently lighting it up at multi-format radio outlets nationwide, with Top 15 airplay at both CHR/Top 40 and Rhythmic. Combined with the week's stunning sales success, the track's fast-rising popularity ascends to the No 1 spot on this coming week's Billboard "Hot 100." In addition, "Right Round" is the No 1 most streamed song at MySpace with over 25 million streams to date.
Tuesday, February 24th will see Flo teaming up with MTV for the multi-platform premiere of the "Right Round" companion video. All MTV networks - including MTV, MTV2, MTV Hits, MTV Jams, mtvU, MTV.com, and MTV2.com - will take part in the exclusive video launch. In addition, the video companion for "Shone" will premiere the same day on MySpace Music.
"R.O.O.T.S." - an acronym for "ROUTE OF OVERCOMING THE STRUGGLE" - arrives in stores and at all online retailers on March 31st. The album follows Flo Rida's internationally successful debut, "MAIL ON SUNDAY," which made an explosive Top 5 entry onto the Billboard 200 upon its March 2008 release. As on the previous collection, "R.O.O.T.S." sees Flo Rida joining forces with an extraordinary array of A-list collaborators, featuring artists like Nelly Furtado, Ne-Yo, and Pleasure P, and including production from Jim Jonson, Dr. Luke, Eric Hudson, Mike Caren, and DJ Montay, who produced "Low."
Currently standing tall at No 1 on the iTunes Stores' "Top Songs" chart, "Right Round" is the first salvo from Flo Rida's partnership with iTunes. Next up is one of the new album's undeniable highlights, "Shone (Feat. Pleasure P)." The track will be available exclusively through iTunes, beginning Tuesday, February 24th. In the weeks to follow, a series of further releases will go on sale, including additional tracks from "R.O.O.T.S." as well as videos for both "Right Round" and "Shone." Each download is part of iTunes' Complete My Album countdown to the release of "R.O.O.T.S.," where consumers can purchase the full album starting March 31st at a reduced price based on album tracks and videos they've already purchased.
Flo Rida is coming off a banner awards season which saw the RIAA 4x-platinum certified "Low" win the 2008 People's Choice Award for "Favorite Hip-Hop Song," beating out such hits as Kanye West's "Good Life" and Lil Wayne's "Lollipop." "Low" also scored an MTV Africa Music Award for "MTV Base Request," honoring the song as the year's most requested video. In addition, "Low" was the recipient of two Grammy Award nominations, for "Best Rap/Sung Collaboration" and "Best Rap Song."
What's more, Billboard named Flo Rida its No 1 digital artist of 2008, fueled in large part by the remarkable success of "Low." With cumulative download sales now in excess of 4.6 million, "Low" is firmly established as the No 1 best-selling digital single of all time. Among its many other achievements, the track held the No 1 spot on the Billboard "Hot 100" for ten weeks, and Billboard's "Hot Rap Tracks" chart for 11 weeks, marking the longest-running No 1 since 2004 and the seventh longest-running No 1 in the chart's history.
Flo Rida made further hip-hop history when "Low" became the first-ever debut single from a rap artist to top the CHR/Top 40 radio chart, where he became only the fourth rap artist to hit No 1 since 2005. Flo Rida also became the first-ever debut artist to have two Top 10 digital singles prior to an album release, when "Elevator (Feat. Timbaland)" entered the top 10 only three weeks after its release. "Right Round" marks the fourth consecutive hit single from Flo Rida.
Flo Rida has proven equally popular abroad, with "Right Round" breaking digital single sales charts in Canada this week, not to mention topping Canada's CHR airplay chart. In addition, "MAIL ON SUNDAY" received gold certification in both Canada and Australia. The latter was especially receptive to Flo's many charms, with "Low" topping the Australian Recording Industry Association's 2008 "Top 100 Singles" and "Digital Track" charts. An energetic and charismatic live performer, the MC has toured the globe nearly non-stop in recent months, with numerous sold-out shows in Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, and the UK.
