New jack swing
Spearheaded by producers Teddy Riley, Bernard Belle, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, new jack swing was most popular from the late 1980s to early 1990s.
Merriam-Webster's online dictionary defines new jack swing as "pop music usually performed by black musicians that combines elements of jazz, funk, rap, and rhythm and blues.
[6] Riley as well as drummer Lenny White credit the start of new jack swing to English singer-songwriter and producer Junior Giscombe and his 1985 single "Oh Louise".
[10] He asserts that "since Jackson's album was released in 1986 and was hugely successful, it is not unreasonable to assume that it had at least some impact on the new jack swing creations of Teddy Riley.
[12] The term "new jack swing" was coined in an October 18, 1987 Village Voice profile of Teddy Riley by Barry Michael Cooper.
"[16] The defining feature of Riley's music was the introduction of swingbeats, "a rhythmic pattern using offbeat accented 16th note triplets."
In an interview with Revolt TV in 2017, Andre Harrell called Riley the inventor of the sound, hailing him "the king of New Jack Swing, because he invented it.
However, in 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.
"[18] The sensibilities of Riley's fusion of the styles would forever change pop music/hip-hop music pairing and was further popularized with Bad Boy's dominance of the late '90s through much of the same techniques.
Riley, a 19-year-old man from Harlem, quickly became an A-list producer and commanded big fees to add his sound to major artist projects.
[19][20] NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air also boosted the spread of this culture, as the star of the show, Will Smith, was known initially for his hip-hop duo with DJ Jazzy Jeff.
A Different World, Waynehead and In Living Color are other television programs of the era which exhibit influences from the new jack swing style.
New Edition after being in a transition due to the departure of Bobby Brown recruited Johnny Gill as his placement, leading to the release of the Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis produced album Heart Break, which spun off five hit singles "If It Isn't Love", "You're Not My Kind of Girl", "Can You Stand the Rain", "Crucial", and "N.E.
In 1988, Wreckx-n-Effect, a Teddy Riley-produced group which garnered press attention regarding their use of bikini-clad women in their videos, released "New Jack Swing", helping to popularize the new name for the emerging style.
That same year, Fenderella garnered a hit with "Mr. DJ", a song with featured Doug E. Fresh, who was known as the "human beatbox" for his realistic imitations of drum machines and other hip-hop sounds.
Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis produced seven hit singles off the 1989 album Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814, which merged the Minneapolis sound with new jack swing.
After the band New Edition broke up, its former members formed several splinter groups or acts, including Bell Biv DeVoe, Johnny Gill, Ralph Tresvant, and Bobby Brown.
The video for the song was shot at the Apollo Theater and also featured Kane, who appeared at LaBelle's show wearing a tux.
As hip hop culture became increasingly ubiquitous, the pop-crossover approach and perceived artifice of new jack swing began to lose its appeal with young urban listeners.
Even the creator of the New Jack Swing, Teddy Riley, made his sound evolve with his second supergroup BLACKStreet, with their 1994's eponymous first album.
The last hit single to use the classic new jack swing sound was Michael Jackson's "Blood on the Dance Floor", released in 1997.
[29] Australian pop singer Kylie Minogue incorporated a strong new jack swing sound into her 1991 album Let's Get to It, most notably the lead single "Word Is Out".
[30] American pop singer Bruno Mars infused elements into his 2016 third album 24K Magic, with fifth single "Finesse" being completely influenced by new jack swing.
