Teddy Riley: The Father Of New Jack Swing

Teddy Riley of GUY, is the man behind the sound, era, and movement of New Jack Swing music. His fusion of hard hitting hip hop beats with R&B singers created an entirely new sound and genre of music in the late 1980’s.

Initially, Riley jokingly referred to his style and sound of production as “Sophisticated Bubblegum music”. Later, journalist Barry Michael Cooper from The Village Voice coined the name, “New Jack Swing”, in reference to the hybrid sound of hip hop beats with R&B vocals.

In the beginning, Riley’s musical production credits included some of hip hop’s rising stars. Artist like Doug E Fresh, Kool Moe Dee, Big Daddy Kane, and Heavy D to name a few. Since then, Riley has written and produced some of R&B and hip hop’s biggest hits.

Below is a mini-documentary on Teddy Riley and New Jack Swing worthy of watching. In it, there are many tidbits of history told by those who experienced this movement first hand.

Enjoy and Share.

ILLUSTRATION by ASMAR BOUIE via REVOLT TV.