The Faces of New Jack Swing

The Faces of New Jack Swing

During the mid 80’s & mid 90’s, R&B music was on fire, but there was a something new taking over the scene that took the streets & industry by storm; New Jack Swing. A mixture of R&B with a Hip-Hop & Dance Pop sounds that immediately became popular in New York City, though many New Jack Swing artists hailed from across the States. The King of New Jack Swing Teddy Riley & legend Bernard Belle were the two to spearhead the movement while stars such as Bel Biv Devove, Bobby Brown, Tony!, Toni!, Toné!, Boyz II Men, Michael & Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston, Mary J. Blige, Toni Braxton, Christopher Williams, Al B. Sure & many other helped lead the sub genre as well. Michael Jackson’s “Dangerous” is the most successful New Jack Swing album to date, becoming certified 8x platinum since its 1991 release. Even Pop, European & Latin musicians implemented NJS sound in their music like Madonna, Paulina Rubio, Jane Child & Kylie Minogue. Some of the greats behind the sounds of New Jack Swing include @flytetymejam & @flytetymelewis, Babyface, Teddy Riley, Alton Stewart, DJ Eddie F, Kyle West & DeVante Swing just to name a few. The origin of New Jack Swing date back to 1985 when Teddy Riley & Kyle West listened to it for the first time. Some critics believe Full Force’s “Alice, I Want You” & Janet Jackson’s “Control” album were some of the earliest projects to use elements of New Jack Swing that may have inspired Riley. Riley describes the term “New Jack Swing” as “The new kid on the block swingin’.” & described the swingbeats created from a fusion of R&B, Rap, Funk & Jazz sounds that Riley implemented in his invention that made it something new & fresh in the world of R&B. Riley, along with the late, great Andre Harrell helped market the revolutionary genre to new heights during the mid 80’s through the mid 90’s, helping rappers & singers to come together when there was once a time the two wanted nothing to do with each other. The Harlem native Teddy Riley was ables to blend the sounds of the streets together along with melodies of love & romance that would be enjoyed by fans for the foreseeable future.