City High (album)

City High
Studio album by City High
Released	May 22, 2001 (2001-05-22)[1]
Recorded	1999–2001
Genre	R&B[2]
Length	55:26
Label	Interscope[1]
Producer	Clark Kent, Salaam Remi, Ryan Toby, Wyclef Jean, Jerry Duplessis and others[3]
Singles from City High
"What Would You Do?" Released: February 27, 2001 "Caramel" Released: November 5, 2001[3] "City High Anthem" Released: January 12, 2002

City High is the debut and only album by R&B trio City High. It was released on May 22, 2001.

Background

The group began as Pardlo signing on as a solo artist. However, soon Pardlo's high school friend Toby, and the producers decided that it should be a two-man group featured in the album. Soon after the two-man group began to work on the album, The Product G&B became successful. In order to stand out, the producers decided to add a female member. They chose Ortiz, a schoolmate from Pardlo and Toby's high school.^[4] During production, all three members did writing on the songs.^[5] The trio focused on trying to make lyrics that told a story, Toby noting that he got some inspiration for writing songs that tell stories from country music.^[4] A large amount of the songs are based on real-life experiences the trio has experienced, such as "What Would You Do?".^[5]

"What Would You Do?" was featured on the soundtrack to the 1999 film Life.^[6] However, it was not formally released until 2001.

This helped with the sale of the album once it was released, and the album became a hit. The group disbanded in 2003, failing to release another album, despite their debut's success.^[3]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Q	[7]
Rolling Stone	[8]
RTE Entertainment	[9]
Vibe	3/5[10]
The Village Voice	A–[2]

The album received generally favorable reviews. Allmusic's Jon Azpiri noted "it stands as an impressive debut".^[1] Jon Caramanica of Rolling Stone said that, although "today's bling-tastic R&B usually avoids social commentary", City High's debut "hinges on thick, stomp-worthy funk, luxurious soul grooves and plaintive harmonies about messy modern love".^[8] RTE Entertainment's John Raftery raved that "'City High' seem to be part of a movement, alongside Lucy Pearl and Spooks, which is letting the world know that black America is about more than just blunts and guns. That alone makes this classy album stand out from the crowd."^[9] Q magazine said that "few have managed to capture the original Fugee spirit like City High".^[7] In a mixed review, Maurice Bottomley of Pop Matters felt that some songs have poor lyrical content, including "City High Anthem"'s "collection of clichés beyond any chance of redemption", and said that "15 Will Get You 20" is "catchy to the point of irritation".^[11]

City High's debut album did excellently on the charts debuting at #34 on the Billboard 200 and was certified Gold by the RIAA months later. The first single "What Would You Do?" reached number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100. The single was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance By A Duo or Group.^[5]

Track listing

Original version (2001)

^[3]

Re-release (2002)

Bonus track edition

^[12]

UK bonus track edition

Personnel

• Kwaku Alston – photography
• Gerard Avant – producer
• Ron Banks – mixing
• Vidal Davis – producer, engineer
• Jerry Duplessis – producer, executive producer, mixing
• Jason Dyer – mixing assistant
• Serban Ghenea – mixing
• Andy Grassi – engineer, mixing
• Jessica Harley – A&R
• Andre Harris – producer
• Wyclef Jean – producer, executive producer, mixing
• Carlton Jones – stylist
• Clark Kent – producer, mixing
• Sonny Kompanek – string arrangements
• Alex Ndione – mixing
• Robby Pardlo – producer, engineer, executive producer, mixing, vocals
• Salaam Remi – producer, engineer, vocal arrangement, mixing, vocal producer
• Ryan Toby – producer, engineer, executive producer, vocal arrangement, mixing, vocal producer, vocals
• Joe Yannece – mastering
• Claudette Ortiz – producer, vocals
• Cus – mixing

Chart positions

Singles

• "What Would You Do? was the leading single off the album. It peaked at number eight on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100,^[13] Number One on Hot Rap Singles,^[13] Number 13 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks^[13] and number three on the UK Singles Chart.^[14] It still remains the most successful single by the group to date, and it was the one that made the album popular.

• "Caramel" was the second single by the group. Although not as successful as their first, it still managed to peak at nine on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks^[13] and eighteen on the Billboard Hot 100.^[13]
• "City High Anthem" was intended to be the third single by the group,^[5] however it was unsuccessful and did not chart.^[13]

References