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New Jack Swing Appreciation Thread

I am so happy for this reason that I grew up in the 90's. I was just listening to Groove Me and Teddy's Jam this morning. Awesome music.
 
I remember trying to buy this song but it wasn't being sold as a single. You had to buy the whole album. One of my fav. songs of the era.

 
I'm from Europe and here the NJS era wasn't big. In fact, while everyone else listened to Nirvana, Pearl Jam or techno in my high school class, I guess I was the only one who even knew what NJS was, LOL. Thanks to Michael and Dangerous, of course. But I guess even many MJ fans in Europe weren't conscious of what type of music that was, they just liked it. And the Dangerous album was very popular here. Interestingly other NJS acts weren't really. Maybe Bobby Brown with one or two tracks, but that was about it.

A lot of the NJS artists weren't really played on MTV Europe, only when they aired the US charts on Sunday evenings. That's how I learnt about them. And I loved that music! Still do. I wish urban music would have gone down that route instead of hip-hop...

If Spike Lee ever decides to make a docu on Dangerous, I hope it will include a little tribute to the NJS era.
 
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I was asking questions about NJS in another thread and ran across this article about Teddy Riley on VH1 when reading one about Michael. The only things I really knew about Teddy was that he was the producer on Dangerous and the father of NJS-that's it. But reading this article made me realize how popular culture changed a lot during this time and I was watching it thru movies )I think of Wesley Snipes for some reason) and TV shows-shows like "In Living Color" and my favorite was "Different World" where all the college kids wore these 'urban outfits' made popular by this type of music.
I also just realized that all the Jackson bros. in 2300 Jackson street video influenced by this -(they actually all looked quite terrific in that video).

Teddy also has an adult daughter in a reality series. (He doesn't seem old enough). See, other people besides Jacksons make reality shows.



a VH1 ARTICLE ABOUT TEDDY RILEY

It’s Time We Give Teddy Riley The Credit He Deserves For Changing American Music
We will forever like the way he works it.
by Isha Thorpe 10/29/2015

Teddy Riley is more than just the father of a Love & Hip Hop star. He is a musical genius whose impact on the music industry is sorely underrated. Known as the King of New Jack Swing, Teddy forever transformed American music in many different ways. Throughout his career, he’s written, sung, and produced countless records that have soared to the top of the charts. These songs have impacted culture for the better and continue to affect our lives—whether we realize it or not.


For someone who has done so much for us, his accolades are surprisingly few. Can you believe that he’s only won a single Grammy in his entire career? Where are his Lifetime Achievements awards from the Grammys, American Music Awards or BET? For crying out loud, Teddy invented a completely new genre of music!

Let’s break down how much this genius has done for the industry, one musical fact at a time.

He Created New Jack Swing

[video=youtube;oCwlZgIQN1c]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCwlZgIQN1c[/video]

With its roots in Teddy’s hometown of Harlem, New York, New Jack Swing (AKA Swingbeat) was formed during a time when the hood needed a new voice. Hip hop was born as the crack epidemic raged, and New Jack Swing came about in a similar way. It wasn’t as hard, but it still spoke for the people on the streets.

As its influence grew, so did its multifaceted impact on pop culture. Classic movies like New Jack City and Boyz N the Hood featured some of the biggest New Jack Swing artists at the time, like Christopher Williams, Keith Sweat and of course Teddy himself. Other artists even stopped through hit TV shows like Family Matters, Full House and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Soon, fashion influences later followed suit (pun intended). Trendsetters such as Bobby Brown, Johnny Gill, and Janet Jackson were constantly emulated by their adoring fans. From the Kangol hats to the colorful jumpsuits and dookie chains, New Jack Swing artists styles were also showstoppers. If it wasn’t for Teddy, this entire movement would never have been cultivated.

He Made Michael Jackson Rap For The First Time

[video=youtube;JbHI1yI1Ndk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbHI1yI1Ndk[/video]

Teddy Riley has the amazing ability to see the uninvented, and he’s passed this feeling of creative fearlessness to all of the artists he’s championed over the years. From Keith Sweat to New Edition, Teddy encouraged musicians to venture out of their comfort zone. Perhaps the most vivid example involves Pop King, Michael Jackson. MJ had been known as a vocal powerhouse for decades, but he didn’t start rapping until collaborating with Teddy on his 1991 album, Dangerous. Teddy has to get props for making an innovator like Michael branch out into something completely new for him. Almost every top name in the industry has credited Michael with impacting their art. They should recognize that Teddy often provided their idol’s musical motivation and daring.

He Discovered The Neptunes

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Pharrell and Chad Hugo of the Neptunes during The 48th Annual GRAMMY Awards - Green Carpet at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, United States. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic, Inc)
Teddy also blessed the industry with fellow super producers, The Neptunes. You read that right: Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo were both discovered by Mr. Riley after they entered a local talent contest. Impressed by their skills, Teddy signed them following their high school graduation. The duo got their first break in the industry by working with Teddy on Wreckx-n-Effect’s sophomore album, Hard or Smooth. This experience launched Pharrell and Chad’s mega-successful careers, as well as that of future Murder Inc. producer Ty Fyffe. They would later work with some of the biggest names in music including Jay Z, Nas, Snoop Dogg, Justin Timberlake, and Britney Spears.

He Formed Blackstreet and Guy

These hugely successful old school R&B groups can still get the club jumping today with classics like “No Diggity,” and “Let’s Chill.” Time may pass, but they will never get old in the ears of millions of music lovers. The music Teddy created with these groups will continue to live on from one generation to the next. Great work from geniuses like Teddy create a greater, richer culture.

You see, folks? Whether you’re listening to the King of Pop, old school R&B, or some of your favorite present day singers and MCs, you may be savoring some of Teddy Riley’s flavor. Thank him for making your life.

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Teddy didn't really invent NJS, he just popularized it, so became the face of it. Probably the 1st album that actually got called NJS was Keith Sweat's, which was produced by Teddy. Full Force doesn't get the credit for doing it before, as NJS wasn't the only thing they did like Teddy. Teddy did have his own style different than Full Force and developed NJS more to a distinct sound. Al B. Sure! & his writing partner Kyle West had a different style than Teddy too.
 
^^What about Janet's first big hit album, Control? And the ones she made with her producers afterward. Was that considered NJS or a forerunner of it-I always kinda mixed it up with the Prince sound and what fell out of that.
 
barbee0715 said:
^^What about Janet's first big hit album, Control? And the ones she made with her producers afterward. Was that considered NJS or a forerunner of it-I always kinda mixed it up with the Prince sound and what fell out of that.
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I don't think Control has any New Jack, but some consider the one of the remixes of Nasty to have influence on NJS. Control (and Jam & Lewis sound of that time) was called synth funk or the Minneapolis Sound. There are NJS songs on Janet's later albums like Rhythm Nation & Janet. The stuff Jam & Lewis did for New Edition fits into NJS. Speaking of NE, Poison by BBD is NJS. Some of the songs produced by LA & Babyface are NJS too including Nothin' by The Jacksons & Jermaine's You Said album. Word To The Badd is NJS. T-Boz and Left Eye from TLC are singing background on Word. At the time, they hadn't released anything themselves yet.
 
Danielle Jennings | February 28, 2017 | Hello Beautiful
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The ‘90s were filled with some of the most iconic and beloved girl groups of all-time, something that hasn’t been duplicated in the years since. One of the more popular R&B girl groups of the decade was Atlanta’s own https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sviChGF9olg, which was the first R&B act on Jermaine Dupri’s So So Def record label. Well like many groups before them, they broke up amid lots of drama, but they just dropped a major announcement that fans will be more than happy about.

During a visit to Atlanta radio station V-103, original Xscape members Kandi Burruss, Tameka “Tiny” Cottle and Tamika Scott dropped the bombshell that fans have been waiting decades for…the group is officially reuniting with all four original members! Lead singer LaTocha Scott was out of town and couldn’t be present during the in-studio interview, but she joined in the announcement via phone.

As you may remember after the very messy breakup, the group was split down the middle with Kandi and Tiny on one side and sisters LaTocha and Tamika on the other. Kandi also stated at one point that the group would never get back together, which was made clear when only the Scott sisters showed up to perform at the So So Def 20[SUP]th[/SUP] anniversary concert in 2013. There was a drama-filled episode of TV One’s Unsung that followed that left fans thinking a reunion was pretty much out of the question…until today.

During the interview, Kandi said “This year at some point, we gonna pull it off together,” addressing exactly when fans can expect new music or a new tour. Tameka Scott chimed in to let everyone know that Xscape is back and better than ever when she added, “The vocals are even better baby, the talent went nowhere.”
[video=youtube;sviChGF9olg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sviChGF9olg[/video]
 
[video=youtube;u_ZoJ6lkKAE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_ZoJ6lkKAE[/video]
As a hugely prolific songwriter, producer and instrumentalist, Teddy Riley significantly shaped the sound of R&B as we know it. In the late ’80s and early ’90s, Riley virtually masterminded the new jack swing genre as the man behind hits by Keith Sweat, Guy, Blackstreet and Bobby Brown, while also co-producing Michael Jackson’s Dangerous album and giving The Neptunes their first break. At the Red Bull Music Academy Festival New York 2017 Riley sat down for a public talk about how it all started, the travails of making it and losing it and the working habits of some of his best known and most intimate collaborators.
 
By Christina Santi | May 20, 2019 | Ebony
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Melvin Edmonds, a founding member of the Grammy-nominated R&B group After 7 and an older brother of singer-songwriter-producer Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds, died Saturday at the age of 65.

According to USA Today, the singer’s death came after a short illness. He was the second oldest of six sons–Marvin Jr., Melvin, Michael, Kevon, Kenny and Derek–born in Indianapolis, Indiana, to Marvin Edmonds Sr. and Barbara Edmonds.

This is not the first loss for the musical family. The Edmonds patriarch passed in 1972, followed by his eldest son in 2011 and his wife in 2012.

After 7 was founded in 1988 and included Melvin, his brother Kevon and their mutual friend Keith Mitchell. The group was popular in the late ’80s and early ’90s, and its hit singles included “Can’t Stop,” “Heat of the Moment” and “Ready or Not.”

According to AllMusic.com, the trio won the 1990 NAACP Image Award for Best New Male Artist or Group. Melvin left the group five years later following the release its third studio album, Reflections. In 1999, his son Jason began touring with the group in his place.

Melvin later rejoined After 7, making the group a quartet for the 2016 release of their album, Timeless.

The 65-year-old is survived by four children, Melvin, Jason, Chris and Courtney.
 
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