| The City Is Mine | |
| Cover: | TheCityIsMine.jpg |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Jay-Z featuring Blackstreet |
| Album: | In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 |
| Released: | February 3, 1998 |
| Recorded: | 1997 |
| Length: | 4:02 |
| Producer: | Teddy Riley |
"The City Is Mine" is the second single from rapper Jay-Z's second album In My Lifetime, Vol. 1. It was released on February 3, 1998. It features vocals from Blackstreet and production from Blackstreet member Teddy Riley. Riley samples "You Gonna Make Me Love Somebody Else" by The Jones Girls for the song's beat, while Blackstreet interpolates "You Belong to the City" by Glenn Frey and Jack Tempchin for the song's chorus. In addition, a young Chad Hugo plays saxophone on this song. The first verse is dedicated to the memory of his friend, The Notorious B.I.G.
"The City Is Mine" was a moderate commercial success reaching #52 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #38 on the UK Singles Chart. It received mixed reviews from critics who complemented Blackstreet's feature but were overall mixed with the song's nature and its interpolation of Glenn Frey and Jack Tempchin's "You Belong to the City". AllMusic's John Bush considers the beat to be the "most commercial" beat on In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 and the interpolation to be "unfortunate".[1] Steve Juon of RapReviews.com describes that track as "some cotton candy sugary rap FLUFF" and its interpolation as a mistake, but still considers the lyrics to be "vintage Jigga".[2]
The video directed by Steve Carr was inspired by the 1995 film The Usual Suspects with actor Michael Rapaport portraying the detective interrogating Jay-Z.