City High
Encyclopedia
City High was an American
R&B
/hip hop
trio, consisting of rappers/singers Ryan Toby
, Robbie Pardlo and Claudette Ortiz
. City High is best known for their song, "What Would You Do?
", which earned a Grammy
nomination.
" from their 2001 self-titled album. Their follow-up single was "Caramel
", and the final single from the group's debut and only album
was "City High Anthem". A remix was released, featuring rapper Styles P
.
Throughout high school
, Ortiz dated future City High bandmate Robby Pardlo. After meeting and performing for Wyclef Jean
, they were signed to his Booga Basement recording label. As Wooga Booga already a duo, they asked Ryan Toby
to join and became a trio
, which completed the City High trio. After breaking up with Pardlo, Ortiz went into a relationship and later married former bandmate Toby, on August 14, 2004.
In early 2002, City High shot several mini music video
commercials for MTV
, based on their own songs promoting the eleventh season of The Real World
. The band also appeared in a series of mini commercials promoting 2002's The Real World: Chicago, before disbanding in 2003.
Pardlo appeared as the subject of an eighth season episode of the A&E
television series, Intervention
, in 2010 as an alcoholic. The show led to Pardlo working a program of recovery. He is the father of a daughter, Lyric, and is still working in the music industry.
!rowspan=2|Year
!rowspan=2|Song
!colspan=5|Peak chart positions
!rowspan=2|Album
|- style=font-size:smaller;
!width="40"|U.S.
!width="40"|U.S. R&B
!width="40"|U.S. Rap
!width="40"|CAN
!width="40"|UK
|-
|rowspan=2|2001
|align=left| "What Would You Do?
"
| 8
| 13
| 1
| 19
| 3
|rowspan=3| City High
|-
|align=left| "Caramel
"
(featuring Eve
)
| 18
| 9
| —
| —
| 9
|-
|2002
|align=left| "City High Anthem"
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|-
|-
|}
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
R&B
Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...
/hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
trio, consisting of rappers/singers Ryan Toby
Ryan Toby
Ryan Toby is an American soul singer, attended St Stephens in Alexandria, VA, songwriter and producer, best known as the baritenor in the group City High. He and his wife have two sons....
, Robbie Pardlo and Claudette Ortiz
Claudette Ortiz
Claudette Ortiz is an American singer and model, most famous as the female in the R&B group City High.-Early life:Ortiz was born in Willingboro, New Jersey to Puerto Rican parents....
. City High is best known for their song, "What Would You Do?
What Would You Do? (City High song)
"What Would You Do?" is the debut single released by American R&B/hip hop trio City High from their self-titled album in 2001. The track was originally included on the 1999 soundtrack of the film Life, starring Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence.-Content:...
", which earned a Grammy
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
nomination.
Career
City High issued "What Would You Do?What Would You Do? (City High song)
"What Would You Do?" is the debut single released by American R&B/hip hop trio City High from their self-titled album in 2001. The track was originally included on the 1999 soundtrack of the film Life, starring Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence.-Content:...
" from their 2001 self-titled album. Their follow-up single was "Caramel
Caramel (song)
"Caramel" is the second single released from American R&B/hip hop trio City High's self-titled debut album in 2001. It is the group's second most successful single, peaking at number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number nine on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks in the U.S. in January 2002.The...
", and the final single from the group's debut and only album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
was "City High Anthem". A remix was released, featuring rapper Styles P
Styles P
David Styles better known by his stage name, Styles P, is an American rapper, author, and entrepreneur. He is prominently known as a member of Hip Hop group The LOX and is also a part of the Ruff Ryders hip-hop group, and in addition has released multiple albums and mixtapes as a solo...
.
Throughout high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
, Ortiz dated future City High bandmate Robby Pardlo. After meeting and performing for Wyclef Jean
Wyclef Jean
Wyclef Jean is a Haitian musician, record producer, and politician. At age nine, Jean moved to the United States with his family and has spent much of his life in the country...
, they were signed to his Booga Basement recording label. As Wooga Booga already a duo, they asked Ryan Toby
Ryan Toby
Ryan Toby is an American soul singer, attended St Stephens in Alexandria, VA, songwriter and producer, best known as the baritenor in the group City High. He and his wife have two sons....
to join and became a trio
Trio
- Musical ensembles and forms :*Trio , three people performing music in some way*Piano trio *String trio *Trio *Clarinet-violin-piano trio...
, which completed the City High trio. After breaking up with Pardlo, Ortiz went into a relationship and later married former bandmate Toby, on August 14, 2004.
In early 2002, City High shot several mini music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
commercials for MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
, based on their own songs promoting the eleventh season of The Real World
The Real World
The Real World is a reality television program on MTV originally produced by Mary-Ellis Bunim and Jonathan Murray. First broadcast in 1992, the show, which was inspired by the 1973 PBS documentary series An American Family, is the longest-running program in MTV history and one of the...
. The band also appeared in a series of mini commercials promoting 2002's The Real World: Chicago, before disbanding in 2003.
Pardlo appeared as the subject of an eighth season episode of the A&E
A&E Network
The A&E Network is a United States-based cable and satellite television network with headquarters in New York City and offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, London, Los Angeles and Stamford. A&E also airs in Canada and Latin America. Initially named the Arts & Entertainment Network, A&E launched...
television series, Intervention
Intervention (TV series)
Intervention is an American television program about the realities facing addicts of many kinds.Each program follows one or two participants, each of whom has an addiction or other mentally and/or physically damaging problem and believes that they are being filmed for a documentary on their problem...
, in 2010 as an alcoholic. The show led to Pardlo working a program of recovery. He is the father of a daughter, Lyric, and is still working in the music industry.
Albums
| Year | Album | Peak chart positions | Certifications | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
U.S. R&B Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999... |
|||
| 2001 | City High City High (album) City High was the debut and only album by R&B trio City High. It was released in 2001.-History: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...
|
34 | 23 |
Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States... : Gold |
Singles
{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center; {| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center;!rowspan=2|Year
!rowspan=2|Song
!colspan=5|Peak chart positions
!rowspan=2|Album
|- style=font-size:smaller;
!width="40"|U.S.
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
!width="40"|U.S. R&B
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
!width="40"|U.S. Rap
Hot Rap Tracks
Rap Songs is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stations and sales in hip hop-focused or exclusive markets. From 1989 through 2001, it was based on how much the single...
!width="40"|CAN
Canadian Singles Chart
The Canadian Singles Chart is currently compiled by the U.S.-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan . The chart is compiled every Wednesday, and is published by Jam! Canoe on Thursdays....
!width="40"|UK
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
|-
|rowspan=2|2001
|align=left| "What Would You Do?
What Would You Do? (City High song)
"What Would You Do?" is the debut single released by American R&B/hip hop trio City High from their self-titled album in 2001. The track was originally included on the 1999 soundtrack of the film Life, starring Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence.-Content:...
"
| 8
| 13
| 1
| 19
| 3
|rowspan=3| City High
City High (album)
City High was the debut and only album by R&B trio City High. It was released in 2001.-History: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...
|-
|align=left| "Caramel
Caramel (song)
"Caramel" is the second single released from American R&B/hip hop trio City High's self-titled debut album in 2001. It is the group's second most successful single, peaking at number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number nine on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks in the U.S. in January 2002.The...
"
(featuring Eve
Eve (rapper)
Eve Jihan Jeffers , is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer and actress. Her first three albums have reached a total of over 8 million albums sold worldwide. She has also achieved success in fashion as she started a clothing line titled "Fetish." She won a Grammy Award in 2002 for the...
)
| 18
| 9
| —
| —
| 9
|-
|2002
|align=left| "City High Anthem"
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|-
|-
|}