MODERN MUSIC HISTORY:
The term “new jack swing” describes the sound produced and engineered by producer Teddy Riley. Riley is an American R&B and hip hop singer-songwriter, musician and record producer.
He led the band Guy in the 1980s and Blackstreet in the 1990s. Riley said, “I define the term [new jack swing] as a new kid on the block who’s swinging it”.
Music website VH1.com notes that while in the 2000s, “hip-hop and R&B are kissing cousins”, in the early 1980s, “the two genres were seldom mentioned in the same breath.”
However, during the late 1980s, “during the era of high-top fades, and parachute pants, producer Teddy Riley and label boss Andre Harrell successfully fused and marketed the two sounds in a sexy, exclamatory music that critics termed new jack swing. It sparked a revolution.” Riley stated that before new jack swing, “Rappers and singers didn’t want anything to do with one another,” because “Singers were soft, rappers were street.” Riley’s new style blended “sweet melody and big beats”.
According to the 2004 New Rolling Stone Album Guide, when Michael Jackson recorded his album Dangerous in 1991, he wanted to “update” his sound, so he replaced his previous producer Quincy Jones with Teddy Riley.
This video shows the New Jack Swing Movement that Michael would later adapt in his music.
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