"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, Careless World: Rise of the Last King (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.

"Rack City"
Single by Tyga
from the album Careless World: Rise of the Last King
ReleasedDecember 2, 2011 (2011-12-02)
Genre
Length3:28
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Tyga singles chronology
"Still Got It"
(2011)
"Rack City"
(2011)
"Faded"
(2012)
Audio sample
"Rack City"
Music video
"Rack City" (Explicit) on YouTube

Background

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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

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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

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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

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  • The music video for "50 Ways To Say Goodbye" by Train contains scenes of an obsessed audience fan holding up various signs of grief support throughout the video, the final sign humorously saying "Rack City, Bitch!" [4]
  • A local United States newspaper reported on an incident in which a woman fled from police officers after she was caught applying graffiti to buildings that contained the words "Rack City Bitch." The newspaper reported that, while the woman fled, she shouted "ten ten ten twenties on ya titties bitch" to the pursuing officers.[5] After receiving widespread media attention the woman in question later clarified that the report was a hoax, published as a joke in a satirical university publication (similar to The Onion or The Harvard Lampoon).[6]
  • Tyga has a cameo in the 2016 film Boo! A Madea Halloween, during which he performed "Rack City".
  • Rihanna used elements of the synths for the song for her song "What's My Name?", on her 777 Tour.

Chart performance

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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.[7] "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.[8][9][10] 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.[11]

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.[12] The track also charted on the R&B chart, reaching a peak of number 27 for the week ending February 18, 2012.[10] It eventually peaked at number 39 in the UK and number 14 on the UK R&B chart.

Track listing

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Digital download[13]
No.TitleLength
1."Rack City"3:28

Charts

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Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[28] Gold 35,000^
Germany (BVMI)[29] Gold 150,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[30] Gold 400,000
United States (RIAA)[31] 5× Platinum 5,000,000

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

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Country Date Format Label
Australia[32] December 2, 2011 Digital download
Belgium[33]
Denmark[34]
France[35]
Italy[36]
United Kingdom[37]
United States[13] December 6, 2011

References

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  1. ^ "Tyga Celebrates 22nd Birthday in Las Vegas". Rap-Up. Devin Lazerine. November 19, 2011. Retrieved January 2, 2012.
  2. ^ "Behind the Scenes - 'Rack City' (Remix) - Music Video". The Source. January 14, 2012.
  3. ^ "PFV - Suplex City, Bitch! - Music Video". Heyman Hustle. April 4, 2015.
  4. ^ Train (June 11, 2012). "50 Ways To Say Goodbye". YouTube. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
  5. ^ Jacob Moore (April 20, 2012). "Girl Flees From Cops While Yelling Tyga's "Rack City" Lyrics". Complex Media. Retrieved April 27, 2013.
  6. ^ Cyrus Langhorne (April 24, 2012). "UPDATE: COLLEGE STUDENT CALLS TYGA, "RACK CITY" ARREST REPORTS BOGUS". 4CONTROL Media, Inc. Retrieved April 28, 2013.
  7. ^ a b "Tyga Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved January 9, 2012.
  8. ^ a b "Tyga Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved January 2, 2012.
  9. ^ "R&B/Hip-Hop Songs: Week of November 26, 2011". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved January 2, 2012.
  10. ^ a b c "Official Hip Hop and R&B Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 18, 2012.
  11. ^ "RIAA Certifications - Tyga". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved March 26, 2020.
  12. ^ a b "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 25, 2012.
  13. ^ a b "Rack City – Single by Tyga". iTunes Store. Apple. Retrieved January 2, 2012.
  14. ^ [1] ARIA Report 1177. Retrieved 2013-04-02
  15. ^ "Tyga – Rack City" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved March 19, 2012.
  16. ^ "Tyga Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved January 19, 2012.
  17. ^ "Tyga – Rack City" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved March 17, 2012.
  18. ^ "Tyga – Rack City" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 2013-05-14.
  19. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 21, 2022.
  20. ^ "Tyga Chart History (Hot Rap Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved January 2, 2012.
  21. ^ "Tyga Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved February 27, 2012.
  22. ^ "Tyga Chart History (Rhythmic)". Billboard. Retrieved January 2, 2012.
  23. ^ "End of Year 2012" (PDF). UKChartsPlus. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
  24. ^ "Best of 2012 - Hot 100 Songs". Billboard.com. Retrieved December 14, 2012.
  25. ^ "R&B/Hip-Hop Songs - 2012 Year End Charts". Billboard.com. Retrieved December 17, 2012.
  26. ^ "Rap Songs - 2012 Year End Charts". Billboard.com. Retrieved December 17, 2012.
  27. ^ "Rhythmic Songs – Year-End 2012". Billboard. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
  28. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2012 Singles" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved October 23, 2013.
  29. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Tyga; 'Rack City')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  30. ^ "British single certifications – Tyga – Rack City". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
  31. ^ "American single certifications – Tyga – Rack City". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
  32. ^ "Rack City – Single by Tyga". iTunes Store. Apple. January 2011. Retrieved January 2, 2012.
  33. ^ "Rack City – Single by Tyga". iTunes Store. Apple. January 2011. Retrieved January 2, 2012.
  34. ^ "Rack City – Single by Tyga". iTunes Store. Apple. January 2011. Retrieved January 2, 2012.
  35. ^ "Rack City – Single par Tyga". iTunes Store (in French). Apple. January 2011. Retrieved January 2, 2012.
  36. ^ "Rack City – Single di Tyga". iTunes Store (in Italian). Apple. January 2011. Retrieved January 2, 2012.
  37. ^ "Rack City – Single by Tyga". iTunes Store. Apple. January 2011. Retrieved January 2, 2012.