JT explores music as narrative with a rendition of her Cinderella Story

City Cinderella is the debut album of the former City Girl, Jatavia “JT” Johnson. As the title insinuates, JT refers to herself as the “City Cinderella” evoking her roots of growing up in Miami, FL while also acknowledging the luxurious lifestyle as she has achieved star status. JT compares herself to a modern-day Cinderella due to her own rags-to-riches story that her rap career has afforded her. JT began making her own music credited as both City Girls and JT back in 2019 when she released a single after just serving about a year-long sentence in prison for fraud charges. Except for a few features in the meantime, her next single, “No Bars” came out in 2023 and was featured on the City Girls’ third album, RAW. RAW was overall lackluster with a couple of redeemable hits and did not amass nearly as much popularity or following as their two previous albums. After RAW, the female rap duo City Girls decided to officially split up and focus on their solo music careers.

The lead-up singles for City Cinderella were catchy and fun which built excitement around this album. “Sideways” and “OKAY” showcased JT’s solo flow which was impressive and catchy. “OKAY” was particularly captivating and memorable in its lyrics and attitude. The album concludes with the remix version of “OKAY” which features hip-hop rapper Jeezy who is credited as a pioneer of the trap music subgenre. I am not particularly a fan of Jeezy’s, so I did not find the remix to be more compelling than JT’s solo version. However, I do understand and appreciate the effort of JT collaborating with someone who impacted and influenced the industry as your predecessor. There’s also the business lens to think about: Jeezy added trap music and masculine elements to the song that could help expand its outreach.

City Cinderella opens with an intro track that is a solid introduction for the album to come. On “Intro (Hope),” JT gets real discussing her struggle with rising stardom and never losing the old her, even when she watched her dreams come to fruition. This song is inspirational in her exploration of trauma and navigating life between two worlds. JT asserts her City Girl status by mentioning Miami and Dade County throughout her songs. A proud Miamian, JT constantly reminds her audience that behind all the glitz and glam of stardom, she is the same girl who had to hustle and work hard to survive. The song “Brick Talk” specifically explores this idea, with JT rapping “I'm a City Girl, born and raised,” and “Rose from the trenches, I'm the city Cinderella.” JT cleverly uses rap music and the imagery of a Cinderella-esque fairy tale to narrate the story of her life. Unfortunately, the remainder of the album does not have as many empowering tracks and falls short of challenging the norms when it comes to female rap lyrics. With momentum from the opening tracks and pre-released singles, I was not expecting the album to fizzle out after a while, but the music started to sound a bit repetitive and lacking charm. However, there are some hidden gems within the tracklist.

DJ Khaled partners with JT once again to create the song “Oh.” Surprisingly, we never hear “We the best music!” which is one of DJ Khaled’’s signature catchphrases. Instead, we’re met with some fake inspirational quote BS that’s also typical of Khaled. The song starts with an uptempo, fierce beat, but JT's voice loses a lot of the momentum by the end. Especially when she does the “Ohs” that are scattered throughout the song. I wish JT brought more to the beat, but the song was still quite good. Another former collaborator, Stunna Girl, was featured on the song “Lemon Pepper.” The two previously worked on Stunna Girl’s “Like Dat Remix.” JT sounds lively and prominent in this song. I thoroughly enjoyed this track and it remained a bop throughout. These songs are not outstanding or the most riveting, but they are hype and fun for the summer.

“Star of The Show” has a powerful sound that is reminiscent of the “Don’t Hurt Yourself” and “6 Inch” Lemonade-era Beyoncé. This sound particularly drew me at first, but the clever wordplay kept me enthralled. Describing herself as a “Miami Griselda mixed with Donatella,” JT again explores her juxtaposing identities which should have her torn between differing worlds. Instead, JT proudly claims both aspects of her identity not allowing them to conflict but rather owning the unique position she is in and the privilege she has acquired.

Although JT is a rapper, a couple of songs dabbled into the realm of RnB and Hip-Hop. The beat of “90’s Baby” is reminiscent of the popular and soulful songs that defined that decade in music, especially for Black artists. JT pays homage to her birth decade and the music that her generation grew up on. The song features a sample from “All The Things (Your Man Won’t Do)” by RnB singer Joe. JT’s use of the sped-up sample evokes contemporary club remix vibes alongside golden age RnB music which results in an incredibly smooth and riveting hit. Continuing to give credit where it's due, JT named her song “Uncle Al” after DJ Uncle Al whose song “Mix It Up” is sampled on the track. Alongside the Uncle Al sample, the song includes a sample of one of the most notable female Hip-Hop songs of all time, “Push It” by Salt-n-Pepa. The usage of an already highly popular song as the main beat makes the song more palatable and catchy. The only issue I found with this song was the highly autotuned vocals which reduce the song’s quality. I think this song would have been more satisfactory had it included more rap and less singing.

Speaking of JT’s lyricism, she employs relevant and trendy language in her music so she can appeal to a popular culture that lives on social media. The chorus of “Swang” is “let me cook though,” a phrase popularized by TikTok. Expanding cultural borders, the instrumental aspect of “DOD” is inspired by melodies commonly found in Indian music. “DOD” also employs an Ozempic metaphor that compares people’s wallets to the thinness of the medication users. The medication Ozempic recently made its way into the zeitgeist as its usage has soared amongst the rich and famous as a weight loss aid. By using language that references internet trends and culturally relevant terminology, JT works to increase her music’s presence on social media. Nowadays, social media heavily impacts what music will make or break so, artists are pressured into creating music that appeals to the mass audiences on social media, particularly TikTok.

Like the best song on the album, it was overall pretty “OKAY.” The songs are formulaic and standard. Not many go above and beyond or experiment with JT’s ability. The album has some fun beats and bold lyrics, and the short length of the album made it very digestible and helped make it increase its memorability. Unfortunately, this sometimes becomes too obvious in its appeal to TikTok and virality. Had the pieces been played around with more, the album may have seemed more polished. Further, more effective collaborations could have helped improve some of the good songs that seemed to be lacking that extra oomph to make them superb. I do think it has potential but, I do not think the album will be as well-received as JT may have presumed from the success of “OKAY” and hyperpop hit “Alter Ego.” Even so, JT’s ability to use her music to tell her story and bluntly explore the themes of her life proves she has what it takes to create an authentic, noteworthy career on her own.

Song Recommendations: OKAY, 90’s Baby, Lemon Pepper, Uncle Al, and DOD