Flo Rida

Flo Rida clocked his 10,000 hours in rap's underground to become a global icon. With his career-catalyzing smash, 2007's T-Pain-assisted "Low," Flo Rida―born Tramar Lacel Dillard in 1979―appeared to be an overnight dance-music wizard. But the Carol City, Florida, artist spent the '90s as a member of The GroundHoggz before finding himself under the tutelage of 2 Live Crew member Fresh Kid Ice, where Flo Rida developed a staccato flow that moved from yearning yelp to bellowing growl on a moment's notice. By the early aughts, Rida utilized newfound Cash Money affiliations and a record deal with Poe Boy Entertainment in 2004 to propel his 2008 debut album, Mail On Sunday. Combining his affinity for pop-rap choruses with his syrupy Southern swagger, Flo Rida quickly became a one-person hit factory. On tracks like 2009's "Right Round," which flips the Dead or Alive classic into a raunchy cut, and 2015's ridiculously catchy tune "My House," Rida displays an otherworldly skill for hook-writing and some serious singing chops. Since those early days with his mentor, Ice, Flo Rida has turned years of a workmanlike approach to local rap into a mind-blowing ability to conjure an international party from thin air.