Mail On Sunday

Pieced together like a last-minute party, and about as fun, Mail On Sunday gathers up the hottest rap and R&B artists who have had a smash hit on the charts in the last six months and does its best to tap into the sound and mood of early 2008. Pure, unadulterated hedonism is the name of Flo Rida’s game. Sex and alcohol fold into a single come-on in “Ms Hangover:” “She had Hennessy hips, and Belve’ eyes / Grey Goose on her lips, and cognac thighs.” Flo is at his strongest when an expert producer is helping him focus, and the album’s first half is chock full of delirious party-starters, including the Timbaland-helmed “Elevator,” and “Roll,” produced by J.R. Rotem. Left to his own devices, however, Flo flounders. (“Me & U” is soupy and shapeless, for instance.) Flo Rida fares best in the company of his pals. With T-Pain in tow, “Low” has an unstoppably catchy hook, while Lil’ Wayne lends his irresistibly eccentric persona to the grandiose “American Superstar.” While it remains to be seen if people will still be listening to Flo Rida in ten years, Mail On Sunday will stand as a time capsule of club music in March, 2008.