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Taiwan – The only time I had ever heard of Taiwan was when I looked at different products that said “Made in Taiwan.” I was like, “They listen to music over there?” We got there and my hotel was across the street from the club. Prior to the show I was getting a massage at my hotel and decided to walk outside. I had to go back in ‘cause the line was around the entire block. I had to sneak in the back door of the club. The VIP was crazy. What really stood out was when I was on stage. I was wondering why everybody had their I.D. in the air. One person was like, “Give me a happy birthday shout out.” I didn’t realize there were a lot of American fans there and they were trying to show me they was from the U.S. I was like, why are they holding out their I.D.s? Is that some new type of swag? Malaysia – They had me as a headliner for a big Hennessy event recently. I was scared to perform ‘cause a lot of times when I perform I take off my shirt. They told me, “This time if you take off your shirt you’ll get the death penalty.” A lady told me, “You’d be surprised. You don’t gotta take your shirt off all the way. Just act like you’re gonna take it off and watch what happens.” Man, them people went crazy. They called police and stuff to stand by the stage. As far as being loud, those were the craziest fans. It was probably about 5,000 people but it seemed like it was about 20,000. That’s how energetic they were. I was so overwhelmed how they responded off of everything I said even though they don’t know the [English] language. Germany – I did a show about an hour and a half away from the hotel. Right after the show it was a bunch of girls and guys that wanted autographs. It got so crazy I had to leave. When I got back to the hotel, it was people in the lobby and by my room door. They had to change my room and everything. Belgium – I’ve never seen Boys II Men perform and I actually got to see them perform while I was there. I did a lot of television shows and magazine covers. I like the fans because as soon as I got to the hotel it was nothing but fans there. It was a high school across the street from my hotel and they were just screaming “Flo-Rida!” That stood out. England – I got to work with one of the hottest female rap artists there; we did a remix to one of her songs. I did a lot of television too. The fans there really know your music. They go into detail like never before. I had to sign autographs at the radio stations and most of the audience was a bunch of older people. One of the ladies was like 50 years old and she was like, “I love ‘Get Low’.” I asked her if she goes to the club and she said, “No, but I heard your song and I love it.”
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Sweden – Going to the airport, I was thinking, “Okay, I’ve been to all these other places, so maybe I’m just going to do radio.” But the clerks at the airport had my CDs and everything. When I first got off the plane to check in and find out where to go, they didn’t know who I was – I had on a hat. But when they found out who I was they were pulling out CDs. I was like, how did they get my CDs? I guess they knew I was gonna come. That definitely stood out for me. Paris – I’ve been there two times. I had went there first on a promo tour and they were telling me, “Next time you come here everyone’s going to know you.” The next time I was there, I was walking down the street coming from a club, and a cab driver stopped all the traffic and told me he had seen me in a club in New York and I performed real good. He caused a traffic jam getting out of his car to come say “what’s up” to me. Japan – I opened up for MTV Japan. Mariah Carey was there, Paris Hilton, Fergie, Nelly, everybody was there, and we all hung out at the afterparties. Everywhere I went in Japan, as soon as I got off the plane, they’d see me from blocks away. They would be like, “Flo-Rida!” I’d never been there before and they knew who I was. It was crazy. I performed at almost every television show out there and at each show they had literally 100 girls around me dancing. Canada – I’ve been there a lot of times. I did the Canadian MTV Awards. I opened up the show and they had me flying off of a five story building onto the stage. That was my first time in a harness. I was so scared. They had helicopters watching over me. It was a grand entrance opening up for MTV. That was pretty big. I performed with Simple Plan. We did a rock version of “Low.” Philippines – I performed at one of the largest malls in the world. I performed at like five different malls and did all the television shows out there. It was basically the same thing, except the traffic over there is so crazy. They had the police escort me out of there because the fans were so crazy. Those were the craziest fans I’ve ever seen in my life. They will actually attack you and rip you apart.
Nominated for Breakthrough Artist & Club Banger of the Year As told to Ms Rivercity // Photo by Chad Griffith