Early life and education Theron and Timothy Thomas are natives of Saint Thomas in the United States Virgin Islands. As children, the brothers performed as dancers for a local all-girl rap group. They practiced a wide variety of music and received support from their parents. In 2000, the two left the Virgin Islands to pursue their music career in
Miami. They had limited success on the Miami nightlife scene. During this time, Theron worked for
Kroger and Timothy for
Party City while in
Atlanta. They moved back to St. Thomas in 2005.
Career beginnings and record deal (2006–09) In 2006, the duo sold their first song, "The Rain," which appeared on American singer-songwriter
Akon's triple Platinum–selling album
Konvicted. By October 2007, R. City had written songs for performers including
Chris Brown,
Usher,
Sean Kingston,
Ashlee Simpson,
Nicole Scherzinger, and
Mary J. Blige. Early songs that saw chart success included
"Take You There" by Sean Kingston (number 7 on the
Billboard Hot 100),
"When I Grow Up" by
the Pussycat Dolls (number 9 on the
Billboard Hot 100), and
"Replay" by
Iyaz (number 2 on the
Billboard Hot 100). R. City signed a
recording contract with
Interscope Records,
Geffen Records and Akon's
Konvict Muzik and
KonLive Distribution in 2007. During this time, Theron was known by the stage name "Da Spokesman" and Timothy was known as "Don't Talk Much." They were set to release their debut album,
Wake the Neighbors, some time in 2008.
Label issues, Wake the Neighbors and Planet VI era (2008–13) R. City created 15
self-released mixtapes between 2008 and 2012, many of which contained the acronym "
PTFAO" (or ''Put the F*ckin' Album Out
) in reference to the fact that the label had not given them a release date for their album. In 2011, the duo parted ways with KonLive and founded their own label imprint, Rebelution Records. They intended to release their debut album, Free At Last'', on their own label, but the release date was later pushed back to 2009. Despite the tumult with their record labels, Rock City continued writing songs for other artists during this period. They penned Rihanna's "
Man Down" and
Justin Bieber's "Run Away Love." In 2013, the duo wrote numerous
Billboard Hot 100 songs, including Miley Cyrus' "
We Can't Stop", Rihanna's "
Pour It Up", and
Ciara's "
I'm Out." "Pour It Up" appeared on Rihanna's album
Unapologetic, which won Best Urban Contemporary Album at the
2014 Grammy Awards. The following year, Rock City contributed to three separate albums that received Grammy nominations — Miley Cyrus'
Bangerz, Ariana Grande's
My Everything (both were nominated in the Best Pop Vocal Album category) and
Iggy Azalea's
The New Classic (nominated for
Best Rap Album).
What Dreams Are Made Of (2014–present) In 2014, the duo signed with
RCA Records and
Dr. Luke's
Kemosabe Records. Their debut studio album,
What Dreams Are Made Of, contains themes of struggle relating to the brothers' often difficult upbringing in Saint Thomas. In 2015, they released singles titled "I'm That..." featuring
2 Chainz Theron Thomas won the
Grammy Award for Songwriter of the Year, Non-Classical at the
66th Annual Grammy Awards for his work on songs by
Lil Durk,
Tyla,
Chloe Bailey,
Ciara and
Chris Brown,
Cordae,
Big Boss Vette, and
Jungkook. ==Discography==