City Girls

Unapologetically bold rap duo City Girls had no ambition beyond recording a diss track in 2017, but by the end of the next year, the rappers had signed with the Quality Control label, released their first two projects, and contributed to Drake’s number one pop hit “In My Feelings.” They truly took off in 2019, the year they scored Top 40, platinum-certified hits with “Twerk” (featuring Cardi B) and “Act Up.” City Girls have continued to rack up gold and platinum records into 2022 with “Jobs,” “Pussy Talk” (featuring Doja Cat), and “Twerkulator,” the latter a reaffirmation of their deep roots in Miami bass music. They stayed busy in 2023 with party-starting “Piñata” and the Diddy-assisted summer anthem, “Act Bad.”
Friends since their early teens, the Miami-based Yung Miami (Caresha Brownlee, originally from Opa-locka) and JT (Jatavia Shakara Johnson, from Carol City and Liberty City) were inspired to record by issues they had with ex-boyfriends. The two got in touch with friend and producer MajorNine, from whom they purchased a beat — one that utilized “My Neck, My Back,” the raunchy 2002 hit by stylistic inspiration Khia — and in August 2017 recorded “Fu*k Dat Ni**a.” The track, which targeted broke suitors and jealous onlookers, was promoted by Yung Miami online and in clubs. By the end of the year, “Fu*k Dat Ni**a” appeared on Quality Control: Control the Streets, Vol. 1, a compilation that debuted at the top of Billboard’s R&B/hip-hop chart and went to number five on the Billboard 200. The track’s official video, featuring an appearance from Trina (Yung Miami’s godmother), appeared the following January. In May 2018, Yung Miami and JT released their first mixtape, Period. Led by the single “Where the Bag At,” the set hit Billboard’s Heatseekers chart. Two months later, the duo’s global profile skyrocketed with songwriting and vocal contributions to Drake’s “In My Feelings,” a number one pop hit in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and several other territories.
The early success primed City Girls for their first studio album. Girl Code, issued in November 2018, entered the Billboard 200 at number 63, and spawned two major hits with the Cardi B collaboration “Twerk” (number 29 pop) and follow-up “Act Up” (number 26 pop). Yung Miami and JT quickly prepared their second studio album, City on Lock, for release in June 2019, just after they assisted Layton Greene with “Leave Em Alone,” recorded for Control the Streets, Vol. 2. Two more hits resulted with the gold “Jobs” followed by the platinum “Pussy Talk,” on which they were joined by Doja Cat. City Girls released a handful of singles in 2021 and 2022, and earned yet another gold record with “Twerkulator.” They kicked off 2023 by teaming up with Diddy on the summer anthem “Act Bad,” followed by the LL Cool J-sampling “I Need A Thug” and the sultry “Piñata.” ~ Andy Kellman & Fred Thomas