ryan toby robbie pardlow and claudette ortiz came together to form american hip-hop r b
group city high on the cusp of the new millennium robbie and claudette would meet and find common
ground through their love of music while attending the same high school in willingborough township
new jersey also at that time they would begin what would evolve into a tumultuous romance claudette
would later learn that robbie even though only in his teens was struggling with a serious addiction
that would be the catalyst to a series of dramatic and life-changing events at first
all three were doing their own solo thing robbie then got signed to y clef john's record label
wyclef reached out to ryan to come into the studio to do some writing for his project ryan who was
a couple years ahead of robbie also attended the same high school and remembered him so he agreed
their chemistry was undeniable so they became what the label thought would be the next casey and jojo
they immediately started working on their album claudette entered the mix after providing some
backing vocals on the tracks wyclef loved what he heard and thought she would make a great addition
and city high was born fans of the 1993 musical comedy film sister act 2 may also recognize ryan
as the shy choir member that captured everyone's attention during a very memorable performance
while working on their album claudette and robbie's rocky relationship had reached a
boiling point robbie's drinking problem that claudette was even warned about back in high
school by her older sister was out of control he had also become verbally and physically abusive
as well as unfaithful claudette knew it was time to call it quits in a 2013 interview with ipower
92.1 radio host tt torres claudette revealed that after she decided to end their relationship
robbie began to torment her his professionalism also went out the window
he would go to radio interviews and pass out during shows sometimes he wouldn't show
up at all to giggs because he was drunk their debut single what would you do was officially
released in march 2001 originally included on the soundtrack for the comedy drama film life
two years prior it would eventually go on to become an international smash head
it reached the top 10 on not only the us billboard 100 chart but it shot up the charts in numerous
other countries as well the song also earned them a grammy nomination for best r b performance by
a duo or group with vocal their self-titled debut album dropped a couple of months later
their second single caramel featuring eve also did very well on the charts
making it into the top 20. a third single city high anthem unfortunately didn't chart
at all after about a year had passed since her breakup with robbie claudette began dating ryan
robbie not surprisingly wasn't happy about it claudette would go on to have her first child
with ryan in 2003 the beginning of this new life would spell the end of city high
claudette left effectively breaking up the group after deciding that she didn't want to
raise her son in such a chaotic environment in 2015 claudette told vlad tv that it was
extremely difficult to be around robbie during the group's rise to stardom as he continued to harass
and abuse her after the birth of their second son claudette and ryan would marry
pose city high claudette and ryan continued to work with some of the biggest names in the
industry claudette collaborated with the likes of wyclef nas ja rule and mace her road to releasing
a solo album though was a rocky one her record label wasn't feeling the direction she wanted to
go in so they eventually dropped her also over the years it wasn't easy juggling work with raising
her children which now totaled to three after having a daughter the father wasn't ryan though
they had already split by this time and claudette has chosen to keep the
identity of her daughter's father private only saying that he's not in the music industry
ryan's career would actually blow up even more after city high disbanded he would continue
singing but really excel at songwriting and producing for other artists such as usher
justin bieber and luke james his latest solo work is a christmas album he released in 2020.
robbie completely disappeared for years and finally surfaced in 2010
on the a e television series intervention the episode showcased his battle with alcohol
that he blamed on claudette and her involvement with ryan through a mutual friend claudette got
a hold of robbie on the phone to find out why he would tell such a lie when they both
know that his drinking problems started years before the group's inception
he told her that he didn't say that it just came across that way due to how the show was edited
he also promised to clear things up publicly the very next day during a radio interview
unfortunately no such thing happened in fact robbie took the opportunity to double down
and continue to lay blame at claudette's feet five years later he popped up again on gofundme
he'd created a campaign to raise funds to purchase studio equipment
a few years after that he solicited help from the platform again along with his r b group first take
this time they needed support during the process of recording a music video claudette continued to
focus on her children and pursue other business opportunities that would prove to be quite
difficult since she didn't have any experience outside of music financially things also took a
nosedive in her life she even ended up losing her atlanta home after a robbery that took place while
she was away in new jersey and her soon-to-be ex-husband ryan was in california she was at
least able to rely on her ex-husband's support for their children her daughter's father however
was no help at all did you ever consider going to the court system to to kind of fix the situation
yeah absolutely okay and what happened with that um well he don't have nothing
after several business ideas failed to produce results getting on food stamps and considering
a career in the military claudette was at a major low in her life then in 2013 the phone rang with
an offer she just couldn't refuse the next thing she knew she was on the move to los angeles
to give reality tv a shot as a cast member of r b divas la she spent two seasons on the show
during which she was reportedly able to get back to working on her solo debut album
however as of the making of this video it has not yet been released she's also dabbled in
acting over the last several years taking on some roles in a couple of tyler perry productions even
with all the twists and turns her life has taken claudette's commitment to her music continues her
latest work released in the summer of 2021 is a collaborative effort she appears as the featured
vocalist on record producer salem remy's track all i need is you available on all streaming platforms
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