You can’t turn on the radio or TV these days without hearing a Flo-Rida song. To many, it seems like he just came out of nowhere and shot to instant success. Last year, he became a Billboard heavy-hitter when his first single Low featuring T-Pain spent 10 weeks at the top of the Hot 100 chart. And now just a year later, Right Round, the first single from his sophomore album is in its sixth week atop the same chart. R.O.O.T.S. (Route Of Overcoming The Struggle) is the title of that second project, which makes attempts to bring Flo-Rida into a zone where more of his listeners can relate. Like its predecessor, this album is heavy on the party anthems and club bangers, with no shortage of samples and interpolations. Still, Flo-Rida makes a genuine effort to get more personal and reveal his story, hence the title. Eponymous

The best parts of this project are, predictably, the club hits. With the right amount of alcohol, Jump which features Nelly Furtado will have intoxicated partygoers doing just that. True to the album’s title, Flo-Rida returns to his roots with Gotta Get It (Dancer) which samples Tina Turner’s Private Dancer. This song’s freaky nature is reminiscent of songs from 2 Live Crew, who Flo-Rida toured with in his younger days. Sugar is the album’s projected third single, and is sure to rouse radio in the same manner as Right Round with its ladies-friendly hook. Pleasure P brings some R&B flavor to Shone (the second single) but the album’s best track overall is Be On You. With its slower pace and smooth vocals from Ne-yo, this standout track showcases a slower, more chilled-out side of Flo-Rida and would have been a much better choice for a single over Shone. Of the tracks that are harder on the hip-hop side, Never is arguably the best for flow, production and achieves what the album set out to do – it puts Flo-Rida more in touch with his audience.

On the flipside, there are some tracks that just weren’t good choices for the album. The title track for example (R.O.O.T.S.), though more personal in nature falls short with it’s lack of creativity in production and lyrics; the hook is fairly bland and gets annoying pretty quick. Mind On My Money is another attempt to gain street appreciation, but it comes off a little too hard for someone who spends majority of the album in the club. Touch Me proves that not all club tracks work for Flo-Rida, and this one seems like album filler

All things said, this is a decent album, not totally a loss, but not an album filled with hits either. The problem with Flo-Rida is that the transition from the pop life to real life isn’t as well-received as he (or his label) would have hoped; still gotta give him credit for trying. On the bright side, he’s established himself as a party-starter, and the go-to-guy for crossover hits. This album is a lot better than I actually expected. You can’t blame him for marketing where the money is...

Sound-Savvy officially rates R.O.O.T.S. (Route of Overcoming The Struggle) with 3.5 out of 5 platinum headphones.