It’s hot outside, and most of us are spending our days bored in the house (yeah, we in the house bored.) But finally, our prayers have been answered with some fire for the long nights: new music from the City Girls! The Miami duo has dropped their long-awaited second album “City On Lock,” accompanied by a self-titled docuseries which premiered June 1 on YouTube.
The pair have spoken extensively on their struggles working low-wage jobs to get by in Miami. In the girls’ 2018 doc, JT said it best: “Every two weeks, $500? $600? Like, what I’ma do with that?” Life forced them to turn to sex work and scamming to make ends, eventually leading to JT’s 2018 arrest for credit card fraud right before the duo got signed. Now, they are the job, and it costs a lot of money to be a City Girl.
The duo’s charm comes from the duality of their luxurious lives compared to their upbringings. The album’s title track reminds you they’re “from the trenches, not the palm trees,” referencing Opa-locka and Liberty City, their rough Miami neighborhoods. Hustling is second nature to these girls and “City On Lock” has them at the top looking at their glory, rapping “I really used to sleep on palettes / Now I’m sitting in the condo like it’s a palace.” But that was then and now they’re here to remind you they’re up now.
The City Girls are a brand and this album pushes that, fueling our dreams of playing rich men for money, designer bags and car keys. Tracks like “That’s My Bitch” and “Come Outside” are the most on brand, perfectly encapsulating their lavishness like movie scenes. “Pussy Talk,” the group’s collaboration with fellow rapper Doja Cat, has flirty wordplay and catchy hooks that make it a contender for song of the summer. In the same way the girls coined “period” in today’s lexicon, “Flewed Out” takes its title from a self-referential meme. Tough but unbothered, they remind listeners they know how to fight. You’ll never catch them weak because the duo never backs down from their boss bitch demeanor. “City On Lock” lets you know if there’s one thing these girls do, it’s getting exactly what they want.
We might be stuck at home, but thank God we have JT and Yung Miami to hype us up, chase the bag to the fly words of the City Girls and listen to “City On Lock” here. Turn it up loud and work out your knees ‘cuz it’s a City Girl Summer.