According to, you know, calendars and astronomy and the like, summer doesn't officially begin until June 21. [artist id="2583152"]Flo Rida[/artist] would beg to differ. For him, summer begins now.

That's because, with his new single "Sugar," he's officially kicked off the 2009 Summer Jam Season. Based around an interpolation of Eiffel 65's Euro-pop hit "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" -- which, let's be honest, has just been sitting there begging to be used for a decade now -- it's a perfectly straightforward bit of hip-pop confectionary, the kind of stuff Flo has built a career out of (check "Low," "In the Ayer," "Right Round" for further examples of this formula). And it's more proof that if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

"Sugar" has been climbing the Billboard Hot 100 chart for roughly a month now, and the video should only help it rise faster. Much like the song itself, it's pure, sweet fluff: Flo goes to the dentist, gets a snoutful of nitrous, and has hallucinations about babes and the beach and stuff (oh, also, in apparent shout out to an episode of "Seinfeld," his dental hygienist may have had her way with him). There are lots of pretty colors and ice cream, too. And some of the girls look like they used to be in the Fantanas. But, really, this is all inconsequential.

Because when a song is as catchy, breezy and lightweight as "Sugar" is, the video is almost an afterthought (and, really, this one looks like it probably was). All that matters is how great it will sound booming out of trunks and flinging around dance clubs at the Jersey Shore. Those are the keys to summertime success. This ain't rocket science ... kids just want tunes to bump, grind and tan to. And "Sugar" more than meets the requirements in all those categories.

So let the Summer Jam Sweepstakes begin. "Sugar's" in the pole position, and Flo Rida is in it to win it.