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"City Is Ours" is a song by Big Time Rush. It was written by Eric Sanicola and produced by Kevin Rudolf. The song was released digitally as the band's fifth promotional single on August 3, 2010,[3] and would later be included on the Best of Season 1 EP, released in 2010, as well as on the band's debut studio album, BTR, released on October 11, 2010.

The song is featured in several episodes of Big Time Rush, most prominently in the first season episode "Big Time Video", in which BTR produce a music video based on the song. The instrumental is also part of the show's music cues, serving as a theme for The Jennifers, a glamorous trio of Hollywood "triple-threats" who regularly attract the intention of BTR and the other Palm Woods residents.

An accompanying music video, directed by Petro, was released alongside the single.

Composition and production[]

"City Is Ours" was written by New York-based producer and songwriter Eric Sanicola, who also wrote the song "Halfway There", another song from the first season of Big Time Rush. Kevin Rudolf recorded and produced the track, with mixing and relevant engineering done by Neal H Pogue and assistant Jeremiah "JHop" Olvera. Big Time Rush's vocals were recorded at Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California.[2]

Release[]

The single was released in Germany on December 3, 2010.[1] This release includes the music video in addition to the song.

"City Is Ours" was briefly heard in the Big Time Rush episode "Big Time Bad Boy", which first aired on Nickelodeon on January 29, 2010. The instrumental track, however, was first heard in the first episode of the series, "Big Time Audition". The song is prominently featured in the episode "Big Time Video", in which it becomes the basis for BTR's first ever music video. To the boys' annoyance, Gustavo Rocque is intent on hiring the "hottest directors in Hollywood", whose (often strange) idea pitches involve only the four members of BTR and not their friends, who want to have roles in the video. Taking matters into their own hands, the boys do what they must to create their own music video, which is directed by Marcos Del Posey and features Mr. Bitters' car as well as shots of the boys and their friends dancing on a rooftop in Los Angeles.

The real-life music video for "City Is Ours", parts of which are incorporated into "Big Time Video", premiered on the same day as the episode.[citation needed]

Chart performance[]

The song debuted and peaked on the U.S. Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 at #5

Chart (2010) Peak

position

U.S. Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 5

Credits and personnel[]

Credits adapted from the liner notes of BTR.[2]

  • Written by: Eric Sanicola
  • Produced and Recorded by Kevin Rudolf for B.A.M.F. Entertainment, Inc.
  • Mixed by Neal H Pogue for Rosette New Jersey
  • Engineer for Mix: Kevin Rudolf with Additional Engineering by Neal H Pogue, Assisted by Jeremiah JHop Olvera
  • Recorded at BAMF Studios, Los Angeles, CA and Westlake Recording Studios, Los Angeles, CA
  • All Instruments by Kevin Rudolf, Additional Sounds and Percussions by Neal H Pogue

Lyrics[]

Lyrics adapted from the liner notes of BTR.[2]

Rollin' past graffiti walls
Billboards lightin' up the block
Every one of us on a mission
Got a whole crew by my side
Cars beep beep when they pass us by
We ready to get down to business
We pull up
Open the door
All the girls scream
There they are
It's packed from wall to wall and
Everybody is callin'
Here we come
It's almost time
Feel the rush
Now hit the lights
We gonna get it all started

Chorus:
Because the night is young
The line is out the door
Today was crazy but
Tonight the city's ours
Live it up until the mornin' comes
Today was crazy but tonight
The city is ours, the city is ours

My, my look how we roll
Was it only a month ago
Everybody said we were dreamin'
But now we're here, like, yeah we told you
Still far but we're that much closer
And there ain't no way we're leavin'
We pull up
Open the door
All the girls scream
There they are
It's packed from wall to wall and
Everybody is callin'
Here we come
It's almost time
Feel the rush
Now hit the lights
We gonna get it all started

Chorus

We gotta believe
It's destiny callin'
So night after night we rock the whole place out
As hard as it seems I know if we want it it's gonna happen somehow

Chorus (Repeat 2x)

Trivia[]

  • On the Summer Break Tour the band performed a mash-up of both Big Time Rush (song) and City Is Ours.
  • The song was heard in the 2011 Nickelodeon movie Best Player starring Jennette McCurdy and Jerry Trainor.
  • There are 2 different versions of the video:
    • 1. In Big Time Video, Pop Tiger magazine photographer Marcos Del Posey directed the video of the boys, which also features the recurring characters in the show; however, only the first and third verses of the song were sung.
    • 2. On Vevo, additional people came into the video, plus the recurring characters, and the song is the full version.

Gallery[]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 "City Is Ours - Single". Apple Music (Germany). Retrieved 7 July 2022.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 BTR (liner notes). Big Time Rush. Nickelodeon Records, Columbia Records. 2010.
  3. "City Is Ours - Single". Apple Music. Retrieved 7 July 2022.

Navigation

Navigation

V·T·E Songs in Big Time Rush
Season 1 "Big Time Rush" · "Famous" · "City Is Ours" · "Any Kind of Guy" · "This Is Our Someday" · "Halfway There" · "Stuck" · "A Shot in the Dark" · "Count on You"
Season 2 "Til I Forget About You" · "Boyfriend" · "I Know You Know" · "Big Night" · "Nothing Even Matters" · "Make a Beautiful Christmas" · "All I Want for Christmas" · "Yardsquirrel's Christmas" · "Oh Yeah" · "Dance, Dance, Dance" · "The Mom Song" · "Worldwide" · "Paralyzed" · "Superstar" · "If I Ruled the World" · "Blow Your Speakers" · "All Over Again"
Season 3 "Love Me Love Me" · "Time of Our Life" · "Cover Girl" · "Elevate" · "Movin' Up to Bel Air" · "Windows Down" · "No Idea"
Season 4 "Like Nobody's Around" · "With Ur Love" · "Picture This" · "You Dumped Me for Her" · "24/seven" · "Confetti Falling" · "My Friends" · "Song for You" · "Run Wild" · "Untouchable" · "Get Up" · "Crazy for U" · "We Are"
Big Time Movie "Can't Buy Me Love" · "Help" · "A Hard Day's Night" · "We Can Work It Out" · "Revolution" · "Music Sounds Better with U"
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