"Right Round" is a song performed by Flo Rida featuring Ke$ha. It serves as the fifth track on Flo Rida's sophomore album R.O.O.T.S..
Background
"Right Round" was written by Flo Rida, Dr. Luke, Kool Kojak, DJ Frank E, Philip Lawrence, Bruno Mars, Aaron Bay-Schuck, and Dead or Alive, the band whose 1984 song, "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" is sampled in the chorus. The track was produced by Dr. Luke and Kool Kojak and features guest vocals from American pop singer Ke$ha, (who was not credited on the American release of the single). At the end of 2008, Luke was working on a track with Flo Rida called "Right Round" and the two decided they needed a female hook. Luke pulled Ke$ha into the studio to record the vocals. According to Flo Rida, the song is about "a young lady, she might be in the strip club and she's got my head spinning round, [...] Or any young lady that I might see walking past me that's getting my attention. She got it going on! I'm going crazy over her."
Flo Rida explained that he listened to "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" and similar records growing up as a result of the varying music genres his seven sisters listened to. Ultimately, his A&R Aaron Bay-Schuck came up with the idea to sample "You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)" in a song. Bay-Schuck told HitQuarters that he had been listening to a shuffle beat produced by DJ Frank E on a CD of potential beats and had kept hearing in his head the melody of the Dead or Alive song over the top of it. Co-A&R Mike Caren then brought the sample to the attention of Flo Rida.
Critical reception
Reviews for "Right Round" were mostly negative. A reviewer for The New York Times called the song "[b]ionic and empty". In a review of R.O.O.T.S., Ken Capobianco of The Boston Globe stated, "His music is pure ear candy that must make Britney [Spears] envious, yet he wants to come off as a thug." He continued that it is unlikely that "Right Round" would have gone over well in Brooklyn in the '80s, calling it "as hard as Jell-O." Alex Fletcher of Digital Spy stated in his review of the song, "It's pretty difficult to ruin a pop classic, but Flo Rida gives it a pretty good stab here." He added that "Right Round" is "[f]illed with more misogyny than a 1970s working mens' club", and called it "an unpleasant affair that's only saved from the trashcan by its sample." Fletcher concluded, "The fuzzy synths, electro beats and infectious chorus hook sung by Ke$ha are almost enough to fool the casual listener into enjoying themselves. But sadly it's never too long before Flo Rida turns up again to spoil things." Simon Vozick-Levinson of Entertainment Weekly called the song "a horrendous rap remake of Dead or Alive's 'You Spin Me Round (Like a Record).'" Noting that the song was, at the time, the number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100, he added, "What does all this say about us as a society? Mainly that we really, really enjoy cheesetastic '80s hair-pop hits in whatever form we can get 'em, I guess."
There were also a few positive reviews. One such review came from Fraser McAlpine of BBC, who opened, "It's one of the fundamental laws of pop, anything which tips a nod to 'You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)' by Dead Or Alive is going to be worth a listen." He continued, "Even though this is just a song written from the perspective of a randy man watching a pole-dancer and bragging about how much money he has [...] in a manner which would make Akon blush, there's just something kind of cute about the whole thing." McAlpine attributed this to the song's "Tigger-beat", explaining, "How can anything too sordid be going on when everyone is bouncing around like they're on spacehoppers?" Bill Lamb of About.com commented, "You will hear echoes of another pop classic, but the new song stands on its own feet." However, he noted that while pop music fans would appreciate it, hip hop listeners would likely dismiss it, and he added that "[i]t's not groundbreaking by any means".
Music video
Lyrics
You spin my head right round, right round
When you go down, when you go down down
(You spin my head right round, right round
When you go down, when you go down down)
Hey, walk out of the house with my swagger
Hop in, there we go, I got places to go
People to see, time is precious
I look at my Cartier, outta control
Just like my mind where I'm goin'
No women, no shorties, no nothin' but clothes
No stoppin' now, my Pirellis on roll
I like my jewelry that's always on gold
I know the storm is comin'
My pockets keep tellin' me it's gonna shower
Call up my homies that's home
Then pop in the night cause it's meant to be ours
We keep a fadeaway shot
Cause we be ballin', it's platinum Patron that be ours
Lil mama, I owe you just like the flowers
Girl you the truth with all of that goody power cause
You spin my head right round, right round
When you go down, when you go down down
(You spin my head right round, right round
When you go down, when you go down down)
From the top of the pole I watch her go down
She got me throwing my money around
Ain't nothing more beautiful to be found
It's going down down
From the top of the pole I watch her go down
She got me throwing my money around
Ain't nothing more beautiful to be found
It's going down down
Heeeey! Shawty must know I'm the man
My money love her like a number one fan
Don't open my mouth, let her talk to my bands
My Benjamin Frank-a-lins
A couple of grands, I got rubberbands
My paper planes making her dance
Get dirty all night, that's part of my plan
We building castles that's made out of sand
She's amazing, her fire blazing, hotter than cajun
Girl won't you move a lil' closer?
Time to get paid, it's maximum wage
That body belongs on a poster
I'm in a daze, that bottom is waving at me, like dammit I know ya
Doing a show like a gun out of holster
Tell me whatever then I'll be your chauffeur cause
You spin my head right round, right round
When you go down, when you go down down
(You spin my head right round, right round
When you go down, when you go down down)
From the top of the pole I watch her go down
She got me throwing my money around
Ain't nothing more beautiful to be found
It's going down down
From the top of the pole I watch her go down
She got me throwing my money around
Ain't nothing more beautiful to be found
It's going down down
Yeeeah! I'm spending my money
I'm outta control
Somebody help me
She's taking my bank roll
But I'm king of the club
And I'm wearing the crown
Popping these bottles, touching these models
Watching they asses go
Down down down
You spin my head right round, right round
When you go down, when you go down down
(You spin my head right round, right round
When you go down, when you go down down)
You spin my head right round, right round
When you go down, when you go down down
(You spin my head right round, right round
When you go down, when you go down down)
Trivia
- The song was performed live for the first time on the cruise. we
Videos
References
- ASCAP Work ID: 482271914
- HFA Song Code: R2410W