''City on Lock'' is the second studio album by American hip hop duo

City Girls City Girls were an American hip hop duo consisting of Yung Miami (Caresha Romeka Brownlee; born February 11, 1994) and JT (Jatavia Shakara Johnson; born December 3, 1992), both of whom originate from Miami, Florida. The duo signed with Qualit ...

. The album leaked in its entirety on June 19, 2020, whereafter it was released on June 20 by

Quality Control Music Quality Control Music, LLC (also known as Quality Control or QC) is an American hip hop record label founded by Kevin "Coach K" Lee ( COO) and Pierre "P" Thomas (CEO) in March 2013. The label's releases were distributed through Universal Music Gr ...

and

Motown Records Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

. It serves as the follow-up to their 2018 debut studio album ''

Girl Code ''Girl Code'' is an American comedy television series that premiered on MTV on April 23, 2013. It is a spin-off series to '' Guy Code''. The series features actresses, musicians, stand-up comics—plus a few men—who discuss the sisterhood tha ...

'' and features

guest appearance The term guest appearance generally denotes the appearance of a guest in an artistic or pop-culture setting. The guests themselves (referred to as guest artists, featured artists, guest stars, or guest fighters, depending on context), are disting ...

s from

Yo Gotti Mario Sentell Giden Mims (born May 19, 1981), known professionally as Yo Gotti, is an American rapper, singer, and record executive. Rooted in Memphis rap, he released five independent albums—''Youngsta's on a Come Up'' (1996), ''From da Dope ...

Doja Cat Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini (born October 21, 1995), known professionally as Doja Cat (), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, she began making and releasing music on SoundCl ...

Lil Durk Durk Derrick Banks (born October 19, 1992), known professionally as Lil Durk, is an American rapper. Regarded as a pioneering artist in the Chicago-based hip-hop subgenre drill music, he is often considered the subgenre's most commercially suc ...

and

Lil Baby Dominique Armani Jones (born December 3, 1994), known professionally as Lil Baby, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He rose to prominence following the release of his 2017 mixtapes ''Harder than Hard'' and ''Too Hard'' — the for ...

. The album's first single, " Jobs", was released hours before the album release alongside a music video. The album's second single, " Pussy Talk" featuring

, was released on July 6, 2020, alongside a music video.

Recording

In September 2019, after a string of releases featuring artists like

Cardi B Belcalis Marlenis Cephus (; born October 11, 1992), known professionally as Cardi B, is an American rapper. Noted for her unfiltered public image and lyrics, Cardi B is one of the most successful female rappers. From 2015 to early 2017, she ga ...

and

Lil' Kim Kimberly Denise Jones (born July 11, 1974), Those giving 1974 include: * * * * * better known by her stage name Lil' Kim, is an American rapper. She was born and raised in New York City and lived much of her adolescent life on the streets after ...

Yung Miami Caresha Romeka Brownlee (born February 11, 1994), better known by her stage name Yung Miami, is an American rapper. She formed the Miami, Florida-based hip hop duo City Girls with JT (rapper), JT in 2017, and began her solo career in 2021. Releas ...

shared that she was waiting for the release of JT to start recording new music. JT previously began her prison term for credit card fraud charges in July 2018 after turning herself in to authorities. She was eventually released on October 8, 2019, having served 15 months in prison. Only a few days later, Quality Control executive Pierre Thomas announced that the duo already started recording their sophomore album and that it was slated for an early 2020 release.

Release

On June 19, 2020, it was reported that the album was leaked in full to the internet. The album was subsequently released the following day.

Critical reception

''City on Lock'' was generally well received by music critics, upon its release. Reviewing in his "Consumer Guide" column,

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

applauded the City Girls' "light, articulated rhymes" and declared, "What a relief to hear credible hoes rather than dubious cracklords brag about their cash on hand, to hear designer brands coveted as adornments rather than status symbols, to hear 'bitch' claimed by women rather than wielded by men." Fellow critic Tom Hull found the lyrics "over the top, but so are the trap beats". In the review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, Fred Thomas said the album had "moments of tenderness are brief and understated, though, with the majority of City on Lock delivering amped-up, belligerent fun." Kenan Draughorne gave the album a positive write-up for ''

HipHopDX ''HipHopDX'' is an online magazine of Hip hop music, hip hop music criticism and news. ''HipHopDX'' has over 3.5M monthly readers, the website encompassing hip hop news, interviews, music, and reviews. The website's founder and CEO is Sharath C ...

'', claiming that "True to City Girl form, City on Lock is about scamming, tricking and full-volume boasts that simply don't hit the same without a subwoofer." The review by '' Pitchfork's'' Lakin Starling noted the growth in City Girls' experience, stating that "Yung Miami and JT come through with their signature amped-up party jams, while also making space to acknowledge what they've survived. It's a dynamic informed by their time apart during a trying period that required confidence and ambition to conquer."

Year-end lists

Numerous publications listed ''City on Lock'' in their rankings of best albums of 2020.

Track listing

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2020 albums City Girls albums Capitol Records albums Motown albums Quality Control Music albums