City High were an American R&B/

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

trio composed of

Ryan Toby Maurice Ryan Toby (born November 26, 1976) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and actor. He first gained popularity for his appearance in the film '' Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit'' (1993). He is best known as a member of the Gram ...

, Robbie Pardlo, and

Claudette Ortiz Claudette Ortiz (born July 21, 1981) is an American singer, model and television personality, best known as a member of the R&B trio City High. Ortiz also was a castmate in TV One's reality series '' R&B Divas: Los Angeles''. Early life Born on ...

. The group's biggest hit, the

Wyclef Jean Nel Ust Wyclef Jean ( ; born October 17, 1969) is a Haitian rapper, singer, and record producer. Born in Haiti, Jean emigrated to the Northeastern United States, United States as a child. He gained fame as a founding member of the Fugees, a Ne ...

-produced 2001 single and

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

-staple, " What Would You Do?", peaked within the top ten of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and was nominated for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group at the

44th Annual Grammy Awards The 44th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 27, 2002, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The main recipient was Alicia Keys, winning five Grammys, including Best New Artist and Song of the Year for " Fallin'". U2 won fo ...

. Released in May of that year, the trio's sole studio album, ''City High'' (2001), earned critical praise, moderately entered the ''Billboard'' 200, and spawned the ''Billboard'' Hot 100-top 20 single "

Caramel Caramel ( or ) is a range of food ingredients made by heating sugars to high temperatures. It is used as a flavoring in puddings and desserts, as a filling in bonbons or candy bars, as a topping for ice cream and custard, and as a colorant ...

" (featuring

Eve Eve is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the universe and its inhabitants came to be. Creation myths develop through oral traditions and there ...

). Despite its relative success, City High disbanded shortly after.

Career

In 2001, City High released " What Would You Do?" from their self-titled album. Their follow-up single was "

", with a remix featuring rapper

. The final single from the group's debut and only album was "City High Anthem". Prior to the creation of City High, bandmates Claudette Ortiz and Robbie Pardlo dated throughout their high school years. After meeting and performing for

, they were signed to his Booga Basement recording label. As Wooga Booga already had a duo, they invited Ryan Toby and became the City High

trio Trio may refer to: Music Groups * Trio (music), an ensemble of three performers, or a composition for such an ensemble ** Jazz trio, pianist, double bassist, drummer ** Minuet and trio, a form in classical music ** String trio, a group of three ...

instead. Following her breakup with Pardlo, Ortiz went on to date Toby. Ortiz and Toby married in 2004, but later divorced in 2007. About the disbandment, Toby said: "We did a second album, it wasn't as good as the first album, it was a little rushed. There was some turmoil in the group, the vibe and chemistry was off. We decided to walk away."

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

{{Authority control East Coast hip-hop groups Musical groups established in 1999 Musical groups disestablished in 2003 Musical groups from Burlington County, New Jersey Hip-hop groups from Philadelphia American musical trios 1999 establishments in New Jersey Interscope Records artists