Even if you're not sure of the exact location of the state Florida, you've probably heard of rapper Flo Rida. He is one of the hottest and highest grossing hip hop artists of the last couple of years.
Only a year after his commercially successful debut Mail On Sunday, Flo Rida (born Tramar Dillard) released his eagerly anticipated follow-up, R.O.O.T.S. which, besides obviously being about the artist's 'roots', is also an acronym for 'route of overcoming the struggle'.
According to the Miami-based rapper, the album was inspired by an eye-opening trip he took to his ancestral home continent of Africa. There, he witnessed the struggles average Africans go through on a daily basis, which made him reflect on his so-far-so-good career and tough childhood.
'[The trip] also made me think about my own struggles, and the adversity I had to face growing up in the projects,' says the 29-year-old.
Brought up with his seven sisters by a single mother in a notorious ghetto, it would have been all too easy for the young Tramar to fall into a life of violence and crime. But while many of his friends ended up in jail at one time or another, Flo Rida decided to pursue his musical dream, and also study international management at university so he'd have something to fall back on.
'My mother always taught me and my sisters that if you can believe it, you can achieve it,' says the rapper.
'I decided to be a leader and do more positive things.'