Meaning of Flo Rida’s Whistle
Flo Rida – a rapper who, as his stage name implies, hails from Florida – is one of the top-selling musicians in industry history. That fact may surprise some readers since, when debates arise over who’s the greatest rapper of all-time, you aren’t likely to hear Flo’s name mentioned in such conversations. Moreover, none of his four studio albums to date have sold particularly well. However, as far as singles go, Rida was a multi-platinum machine earlier in his career, i.e. circa the first half the early 2010s. And as a matter of example, his debut single, 2007’s Low, has achieved the rare feat of being certified diamond by the RIAA.
It was during that era and more specifically on 24 April 2012 that Whistle came out. This song is a product of Atlantic Records and the Poe Boy Music Group. And it served as the third single from Flo Rida’s Wild Ones (2012), which is actually, as of this writing, his most recent studio album to date.
Whistle can definitely be counted as one of Flo Rida’s greatest successes, as it achieved a number of amazing feats. For instance, it appeared on nearly 10 different Billboard charts stateside, in the process topping the Hot 100, Mainstream Top 40 and Rhythmic rankings. This track also proved to be a number one hit in 20 countries around the world, having reached the summit of the UK Hip Hop/R&B Chart, the Russia Airplay chart and in places as diverse as Luxembourg, Israel and Venezuela. Accordingly, it has earned approximately 10 multi-platinum certifications, including (once again as of this writing) having gone quintuple-platinum in the United States and septuple-platinum in Australia.
Writing and Production Credits
This hip-hop success was made possible through the production contributions of (David) Glass and DJ Frank E. That pair is also credited with writing Whistle, alongside Antonio Mobley, Arthur Pingrey, Breyan Isaac, J. Ralph, Marcus Killian and Flo Rida.
Other Facts about the Song
The music video to this song was directed by industry vet Marc Klasfeld, and it was shot in Acapulco, a resort city found in Mexico.
Upon reaching number one the Billboard Hot 100 on 25 August 2012, Whistle knocked out Carly Rae Jepsen’s Call Me Maybe, a song that had held down that position for nine-consecutive weeks, out of the top spot.
Flo Rida has stated that he made a conscientious effort to “for the most part… keep it clean” with the lyrics of this song.
The Song’s Lyrics
Oddly enough, this is somewhat of a difficult song to analyze. The lyrics have obviously been, as Flo Rida stated, intentionally sanitized. But they haven’t been done so to the degree that any reasonably-aged person who’s familiar with basic American slang wouldn’t be able to piece together what’s being emitted.
For instance, the fact that these lyrics do not contain anything overtly NSFW has not stopped the general public from concluding that when Flo asks the addressee, a sexual interest, to ‘blow his whistle’ in the chorus, what he’s referring to is oral sex. But the interesting thing about that theory is that there really isn’t much else found in the rest of the song to support it. Or let’s note that, according to Genius scholars, there is a relatively-elaborate, or what they call an “extended” metaphor found in the second verse pointing to fellatio. And yes, the more discerning listener may come to that conclusion on their own, that at least one or two lines found in this passage indicate that the vocalist is looking forward to being the recipient of such an act. But judging by the universal success and acceptance of this track, it can also be gleaned that Flo Rida achieved his goal of dropping a song that has, to some notable degree, a general applicability beyond sex. Or put otherwise, a child or someone who hasn’t grown up in an environment where oral sex is a norm probably wouldn’t pick up on the aforenoted metaphor(s) found in the second verse.
But it is blatantly obvious nonetheless that this is akin to a sex song. It may be one that you can safely play in the office without getting chastised by superiors. But at the same time, as alluded to earlier, it isn’t necessarily as if Flo Rida is the cleverest of rappers. As such, his preference for bisexual females, though not being directly said, comes across pretty clearly in the first verse.
Also, it isn’t as if this track was dropped in the 1970s, i.e. during an era in industry history when expressions of sexual desire had to be artistically veiled. This rather is indeed 21st century hip-hop club song, so for instance we find the vocalist bluntly advising the addressee to “twerk”, which is a form of sexualized dancing.
But as for the chorus itself, it generally reads more along the lines of Flo trying to hook up with the person he’s rapping to. So all things considered, Whistle can probably be more accurately classified as a pickup song rather than a sex song. But the goal of the solicitation is obviously to get the addressee in bed and furthermore – to those of us who are in the know – in hopes that she’s down to give Rida some head.
