On his new album, R.O.O.T.S., hit-making rapper Flo Rida is ditching his baggy sweatpants and Reeboks with the straps and — as the title suggests — taking it back to his roots. R.O.O.T.S, which stands for Route of Overcoming the Struggle, was apparently inspired by Flo Rida’s experiences growing up in the projects of Miami and his 2008 trip to Africa, which he calls “eye-opening.”

Best known for his 2007 smash hit “Low,” featuring T-Pain, Flo Rida obviously understands how to keep the clubs pumping. But his efforts on R.O.O.T.S. show this rapper has a lot to learn if he wants to keep playing the game.

The album’s first single, the undeniably catchy club banger “Right Round,” perfectly samples Dead or Alive’s “You Spin Me Right Round (Like a Record).” “I’m talking about the ladies around the world that have my head spinning right round,” Flo Rida says of the song on his official website. “I’m talking about spending money. She’s got me wanting to spend my last dollar.” So he’s talking about money and girls, like every other rapper. But Flo Rida definitely knows how to take a clich? topic and be innovative. With 636,000 downloads sold in its first week, “Right Round,” holds the record for the highest digital single debut ever — a title previously held by “Low.”

Unfortunately, Flo Rida gave it all away up front. “Right Round” is as good as R.O.O.T.S. gets.

This rapper’s biggest flaw might be his lyrics. He raps about a stripper for an entire song on “Gotta Get It (Dancer).” Songs like “Mind on My Money” make it difficult to take him seriously at all. Flo Rida sounds conflicted: He seems to want to embrace his roots, but never actually goes through with it. If he’s not rapping about stripper poles, he’s rapping about how he came from the streets, and that’s where his lyrical repertoire ends. “I’m talking ’bout roots,” he informs listeners on the album’s grinding title track. He might be talking about roots, but he’s not saying anything.

But R.O.O.T.S. is not all bad. Much of the album has a synthy, ’80s vibe, which works especially well when paired with heavy bass beats on tracks like “Touch Me.”

Flo Rida also seems to have a refreshing knack for sampling off-the-cuff songs. On the album’s second single, “Sugar,” he uses Eiffel 65’s only hit, proving that he is creative on some level, even if his lyrics need work.

Flo Rida has some of the industry’s heavy-hitters helping him out. Nelly Furtado shines on “Jump.” Ne-Yo slows it down with “Be On You,” the album’s best effort at an R&B track. Wyclef Jean lends his vocal versatility to the album’s closer, “Rewind,” even though the song itself sounds like the Black Eyed Peas’ version of “Where is the Love?”

While Flo Rida does deserve some respect for his hit-making abilities, listening to R.O.O.T.S. in its entirety is a tedious task. His attempt at a more serious sophomore album sounds cheesy and forced. If Flo Rida just wants to rap about women and money, he should keep it in the clubs.

2 1/2 stars out of 5.