US hip hop phenomenon,  Flo Rida will perform for the first time in Africa at the MTV Africa Music Awards with Zain (MAMA) as MTV salutes the power of US and African hip hop.  Joining the whirlwind Miami MC performing at the event will be MAMA award nominees 9ice (Best Hip Hop, Best New Act nominee), Naeto C (Best New Act nominee), Ikechukwu (Best Video nominee) and Jua Cali (Best Male nominee).

For someone who only released his first album in 2008, Flo Rida has quickly notched up an impressive music resumé: enjoying a massive US number one hit, collaborating with T-Pain and Will.i.am among others and garnering numerous award nominations including two ‘nods’ for the upcoming American Music Awards.  Named in homage to his home state, Flo Rida has taken the hip hop world by storm with his well crafted lyrics, slick grooves and speedy rhymes, honed during his teenage years when .e toured with Fresh Kid Ice from 2 Live Crew before popping up on high-profile mixtapes as a collaborator with numerous artists.

Signed to Poe Boy/Atlantic, Flo Rida instantly made himself noticed with debut album Mail on Sunday, whose lead single, “Low,” featuring T-Pain, held the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for ten weeks, and was #1 on Billboard’s Pop 100 chart for 12 weeks and still counting.  “Low” was also #1 on Billboard’s Hot Rap Tracks chart for 11 weeks, marking the longest-running #1 since 2004 and the seventh longest-running #1 in the chart’s history.  ”Low” also made it into the record books as the biggest selling digital single of all time in the US, selling 4.3 million units!

Flo Rida, 9ice, Naeto C, Ikechukwu and Jua Cali will join previously announced artists Kelly Rowland, The Game, D’Banj, Asa and Cassette at the Velodrome, Abuja for MTV’s uplifting celebration of African music and artists on Saturday, 22 November 2008. Their performances broadcast on MTV base (DStv Channel 322, GTV Channel 40), partner networks and terrestrial channels RTGA (Democratic Republic of the Congo), TV3 (Ghana), NTV (Kenya), AIT (Nigeria), STV (Nigeria), TBC (Tanzania) and WBS (Uganda), from 29 November 2008.

To vote for your favourite artist or video, please go to mama.mtvbase.com.  Music fans with WAP/GPRS enabled phones may also vote at m.mama.mtvbase.com (standard internet charges apply).  Voting closes on Tuesday 18 November 2008.  For details of SMS voting go to mama.mtvbase.com.