New Jack Swing - History

History

A collaboration between former members of Minneapolis music group The Time, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, and Janet Jackson originated the style that came to be known as new jack swing with Jackson's third studio album, Control. Jam and Lewis used similar influences with hip-hop influenced drums with smoother R&B stylings in the production. Though Jackson had previously been popular in R&B music, Control established her crossover appeal in the popular music market. Musicologist Richard J. Ripani Ph.D., author of The New Blue Music: Changes in Rhythm & Blues, 1950–1999 (2006), observed that the album was one of the first successful records to influence the rise of new jack swing by creating a fusion of R&B, rap, funk, disco and synthesized percussion. The success of Control, according to Ripani, bridged the gap between R&B and rap music. He asserts that "ince 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." Mantronix's early records in the mid-1980s also had new jack elements.

The term "new jack swing" was coined in a 1988 Village Voice profile of Teddy Riley by Barry Michael Cooper. "New Jack" was a slang term used in a song by Grandmaster Caz of the Cold Crush Brothers, and "swing" was intended by Cooper to draw an "analogy between the music played at the speakeasies of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s time to the crackhouses of Teddy Riley’s time."

The term "new jack swing" describes the sound produced and engineered by R&B/Hip hop artist and 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 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, 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. 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". 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 90's through much of the same techniques. Riley, a 19-year-old kid from Harlem, quickly became an A-list producer and commanded big fees to add his sound to major artist projects. The aesthetic of the culture also spread to mainstream white audiences through popular groups such as New Kids on the Block.

New jack swing is mellifluously soulful solo or harmonizing vocals addressing romantic and sexual themes and lyrics, sung over rhythms and "street" beats derived from urban musical influences. This style of music melded with hip hop, which also gave it elements of aggression of swaggering on some songs. Some songs consisted of rhythmic beats with music, while others had singing alternating with rap sections over this same type of music.

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 Riley.