"I Cry" Flo Rida

With the release of "I Cry," his fourth single this year, it's clear that Flo Rida has established a comfortable formula. Step One: Start with an easily recognizable hook that will get audiences dancing—extra points if it's already a well-liked club hit. (This time around, he interpolates the chorus from Bingo Player's "Cry [Just a Little]," a dance remix of Brenda Russell's 1988 power ballad "Piano in the Dark.") Step Two: Add some generic rhymes that everyone will just ignore as they wait for the hook to come back. (I'm not sure what Flo Rida has against champagne buckets and chandeliers, but apparently they've got him tearing up.) Step Three: Wait for pop success. Obviously, something about the chemistry is working right, as "I Cry" recently became the rapper's fourth consecutive top ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100, but artistically, it's definitely off. Blame staleness or a bad batch—this is no "Wild Ones." C