Rack City Explained

Rack City
Cover:Tyga-Rack-City.jpg
Type:single
Artist:Tyga
Length:3:28
Chronology:Tyga
Prev Title:Still Got It
Prev Year:2011
Next Title:Faded
Next Year:2012

"Rack City" is a song by American rapper Tyga. First released on December 2, 2011, the song served as the third single from his second studio album, (2012). It was produced by DJ Mustard and Mike Free. It reached a peak of number seven on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 53 on the Canadian Hot 100.

Background

The song originally appeared on Tyga's mixtape, Well Done 2 (2011). On November 19, 2011, Rap-Up announced that "Rack City" would be released to the iTunes Store in the United States as the second single from Careless World: Rise of the Last King.[1]

Music video

The music video for "Rack City," directed by Chris Robinson, has been on YouTube since January 10, 2012, and has over 78 million views. Tyga's former girlfriend, Blac Chyna, played the main female role and is seen stripping on him.[2] The music video to the official remix of "Rack City" that features rappers Wale, Fabolous, Young Jeezy, Meek Mill and T.I. officially aired on MTV Jams as of February 24, 2012, and was directed by Alex Nazari. This video has over 33 million views on YouTube.

Remixes

The official remix consists of freestyles taken from rappers who made their own remixes, Wale's verse comes from his Rack City remix which features Black Cobain. Fabolous's verse comes from his Black City remix, Young Jeezy's verse comes from his Rack City remix and Meek Mill's T.I.'s verses were arranged especially for the remix. Gucci Mane released a freestyle of the track. Rye Rye released a remix of the song as well with her female side of the rack city song. Yelawolf released a LA Lakers remix of the song. B.o.B released a video for his remix to exclusively promote his Mixtape E.P.I.C. (Every.Play.Is.Crucial) and Trae Tha Truth also released a freestyle to the track. Honey Cocaine also freestyled to the song. Tory Lanez released a freestyle to the song. Former Missy Elliott protégée Brianna Perry also freestyled off this record for her 2011 mixtape Face Off.

YouTube personality Jack Douglass wrote a parody called "Jack City" about his videos; lifecaster iJustine created a parody called "Mac City"; IFHT also created a parody called "Cat City".

Wrestler Brock Lesnar was caught insulting Roman Reigns with “Suplex City, bitch!” on a ringside microphone at Wrestlemania 31 after hitting him with a number of German suplexes during their bout. Cleveland-based hip hop artist PFV remixed this quote into a wrestling version of Rack City.[3]

Rapper Bun B created a remix called "Crush City", dedicated to the Houston Astros 2015 postseason run.

Appearances in other media

Chart performance

For the chart dated December 10, 2011, "Rack City" debuted at number 94 on the US Billboard Hot 100. On its eighth charting week, dated January 28, 2012, the single rose 15 places to number eight - marking Tyga's first solo top 10 single. The single spent two non-consecutive weeks in the top 10 before reaching a peak of number seven on the week ending February 18, 2012. "Rack City" has also reached the top 10 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and US Rap Songs chart - having debuted at number 91 on the former for the chart dated November 26, 2011.[7] On August 4, 2014, the single was certified quadruple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of over four million units in the United States.[8]

On the week ending February 4, 2012, "Rack City" made its debut on the UK Singles Chart, landing in at position 158. On its third charting week, the single rose 24 places to number 98. The track also charted on the R&B chart, reaching a peak of number 27 for the week ending February 18, 2012.It eventually peaked at number 39 in the UK and number 14 on the UK R&B chart.

Charts

Year-end charts

Chart (2012)Position
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[10] 179
US Billboard Hot 100[11] 45
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[12] 31
US Hot Rap Songs (Billboard)[13] 12
US Rhythmic (Billboard)[14] 13

Release history

CountryDateFormatLabel
Australia[15] December 2, 2011Digital download
Belgium[16]
Denmark[17]
France[18]
Italy[19]
United Kingdom[20]
United States[21] December 6, 2011

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Tyga Celebrates 22nd Birthday in Las Vegas. Rap-Up. Devin Lazerine. November 19, 2011. January 2, 2012.
  2. Web site: Behind the Scenes - 'Rack City' (Remix) - Music Video. The Source. January 14, 2012.
  3. Web site: PFV - Suplex City, Bitch! - Music Video. Heyman Hustle. April 4, 2015.
  4. Web site: 50 Ways To Say Goodbye . Train . YouTube . June 11, 2012 . October 10, 2012.
  5. Web site: Girl Flees From Cops While Yelling Tyga's "Rack City" Lyrics . Jacob Moore . Complex Media . April 20, 2012 . April 27, 2013.
  6. Web site: UPDATE: COLLEGE STUDENT CALLS TYGA, "RACK CITY" ARREST REPORTS BOGUS . Cyrus Langhorne . 4CONTROL Media, Inc. . April 24, 2012 . April 28, 2013.
  7. R&B/Hip-Hop Songs: Week of November 26, 2011. Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. January 2, 2012.
  8. Web site: RIAA Certifications - Tyga. Recording Industry Association of America. March 26, 2020.
  9. https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20120924042300/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/23790/20120924-1423/Issue1177.pdf
  10. Web site: End of Year 2012. UKChartsPlus. April 13, 2020.
  11. Web site: Best of 2012 - Hot 100 Songs. Billboard.com. December 14, 2012.
  12. Web site: R&B/Hip-Hop Songs - 2012 Year End Charts. Billboard.com. December 17, 2012.
  13. Web site: Rap Songs - 2012 Year End Charts. Billboard.com. December 17, 2012.
  14. Rhythmic Songs – Year-End 2012. Billboard. October 4, 2019.
  15. Web site: Rack City – Single by Tyga. iTunes Store. January 2011 . Apple. January 2, 2012.
  16. Web site: Rack City – Single by Tyga. iTunes Store. January 2011 . Apple. January 2, 2012.
  17. Web site: Rack City – Single by Tyga. iTunes Store. January 2011 . Apple. January 2, 2012.
  18. Web site: Rack City – Single par Tyga. iTunes Store. January 2011 . Apple. January 2, 2012. fr.
  19. Web site: Rack City – Single di Tyga. iTunes Store. January 2011 . Apple. January 2, 2012. it.
  20. Web site: Rack City – Single by Tyga. iTunes Store. January 2011 . Apple. January 2, 2012.
  21. Web site: Rack City – Single by Tyga. iTunes Store. Apple. January 2, 2012.