New Jack Swing, or "swingbeat", is a
hybrid style popular from the late-1980s into
the mid-1990s, which fuses the
rhythms,
samples and production techniques
of
hip-hop with the
urban contemporary sound of
R&B. The new jack swing style developed as many
previous R&B styles did, by combining elements of older styles
with newer trends. It uses mellifluously soulful
solo or harmonizing vocals sung over rhythms
and "street" beats derived from urban musical influences. The sound
of new jack swing comes from the hip hop "swing" beats created by
drum machine, and hardware samplers,
which was popular during the
golden age of hip hop, with
contemporary R&B style
singing.
The term "
new jack swing" was coined by writer-filmmaker
Barry Michael Cooper (screenwriter for the films
New Jack City,
Above the Rim, and
Sugar Hill), in a cover story in
the
Village Voice titled,
"Teddy Riley Groove Master: Harlem Gangsters Raise a Genius", dated
October 18, 1988. 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
Encyclopædia
Britannica calls it the "... most pop-oriented
rhythm-and-blues music since 1960s Motown", since its
"...performers were unabashed entertainers, free of artistic
pretensions; its songwriters and producers were commercial
professionals." New jack swing did not take up the trend of using
sampled beats, and instead created beats using the then-new
SP-1200 and
Roland 808 drum machines to lay an "insistent
beat under light melody lines and clearly enunciated vocals."
Encyclopædia Britannica states that the "key producers" were
Babyface and
Teddy Riley.
History
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 [new jack swing] 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, during 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".
New jack swing is mellifluously soulful
solo or harmonizing vocals addressing romantic
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
Teddy Riley.
Revival
In October 2004, a variety of classic new jack swing tracks are
used in the popular
videogame Grand Theft Auto: San
Andreas. The songs appear on fictional radio station
CSR 103.9 and the soundtrack (released in
December, 2004).
Bell Biv Devoe
member
Michael Bivins portrays a
self-absorbed
DJ named Phillip "P.M." Michaels,
who is aspiring to become an actor. New jack swing staged a revival
of sorts in the mid-2000s, fuelled by the 2006
New Jack Reunion Tour. On
October 8 2007 VH-1's 4th
Annual Hip-Hop Honors paid tribute to new jack swing with their
nationally televised ceremony.
Influences
The
Ghostbusters film
franchise helped spread new jack swing songs by
Ray Parker, Jr. and
Bobby Brown, who was nicknamed
The King of
New Jack Swing. The
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. During the first
episode of the series, Will Smith dances to the
Soul II Soul new jack swing single "Back To
Life".
A Different
World and
In Living
Color are other television programs of the era which
exhibit influences from the new jack swing style.
Video Soul,
Soul
Train,
Showtime at
the Apollo as well as the late night talk show
The Arsenio Hall Show
also helped to promote these acts.
House Party with
Kid 'n Play,
Boyz
N the Hood,
Juice,
New Jack City,
Boomerang,
Above the Rim,
Poetic Justice,
Blankman and
Bebe's
Kids used New Jack Swing songs in their soundtracks.
Dance-oriented pop artists such as
Sheena
Easton,
Deborah Gibson,
Jane Child,
Joey
Lawrence, and
New Kids on the
Block also have new jack swing elements in their early 1990s
output.
Former members of Minneapolis
music group "The
Time", Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, created a new jack swing-like sound
for Janet Jackson's third album
Control. Jam and
Lewis used similar influences with hip-hop drum beats 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. To date the most successful new jack swing album is
Dangerous, released in
1991 by
Michael Jackson, which has
sold 32 million copies worldwide.
Notable songs
Many songs with elements of new jack swing and similar R&B
styles ranked in the top 10 of the US R&B Billboard charts or
the top ten of the US "top 100" charts.
In 1987,
Keith Sweat's song "
I Want Her" was number 5 in the US charts and
number 1 in the R&B charts. One of Sweat's singles, "(There You
Go) Tellin' Me No Again" was on the soundtrack for the film
New Jack City. The musician
and
record producer Teddy Riley's group
Guy, a group which was one of the early pioneers
of
hip-hop and
R&B had a hit with the song
"
Groove Me", which went to number 4 in the
US R&B charts, and the 1988 song "
Teddy's Jam", which ranked number 5 in the US
R&B charts.
Northern California group
Club Nouveau
had a
Billboard number one single with
their cover of
Bill Withers's song
Lean on Me in 1987. The song won a Grammy
award later that year. The song was included on the group's debut
album
Life, Love &
Pain, which was released in 1986. The backing track uses a
sequenced swing beat, characteristic of the "New Jack Swing" style.
Club
Nouveau was a later incarnation of the Bay Area
group
Timex Social Club who helped to
lay the foundation for new jack swing.
In 1988, new jack swing pioneer
Bobby
Brown began his string of Top 10
Billboard hits with a cut from his second album,
"
Don't Be Cruel", which
ranked number 8 in the US top 100 and number 1 in the US R&B
charts. In that same year, former
NBA cheerleader Paula
Abdul had a number 10 US R&B hit with "
the Way That You Love
Me" and
Ready for the World,
a danceable, funk-infused Michigan group founded by
Melvin Riley and
Gordon Strozier, had a number 6 R&B hit
with "
My Girly."
Tony! Toni! Toné! had three songs in the top ten
of the
Hot
R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks, including "Little Walter"
which made it to #1.
Johnny Kemp's "Just
Got Paid" also cracked the
top 10 on the
Billboard Hot 100 in 1988 and went
to #1 on the
Hot Dance
Music/Club Play.
In 1989,
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", which lent its
name to 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. Also,
Janet Jackson released her fourth studio album
Janet Jackson's
Rhythm Nation 1814. Janet Jackson made very successful new
jack swing songs in this album, these were:
Miss You Much,
Love Will Never Do (which
ranked at #1 in US) and Alright, Rhythm Nation etc. which had high
peaks in the charts. Also in 1989,
Neneh
Cherry's "
Buffalo Stance" ranked
number 3 on the US top 100, and key new jack swing producer
Babyface had a hit with his song
"
It's No Crime", which ranked number 7
in the US charts and number 1 on the US R&B charts. Another
Teddy Riley-produced group,
Today, had
a hit with "
Girl I Got My Eyes
On You", which garnered a number 1 spot on the US R&B
charts.
Also, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis had their share of contributing to
new jack swing. Janet Jackson had 7 top 5 singles off her 1989
Rhythm Nation album, which merged the Minneapolis sound with new
jack swing.
Karyn White, also produced
by the Flyte Time team also had hits in the late '80s and early
'90s.
Sheena Easton also had a few
hits from her 1991 album
What Comes
Naturally produced by hitmakers Vassel Benford, Wolf and Epic,
Nick Mundy. The single
What Comes
Naturally went to US#19 on the Billboard 100 singles
chart.
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. In 1990,
several ex-New Edition members had hit songs.
Bell Biv Devoe's songs "
Poison" and "
Do Me!", as well as
Johnny
Gill's single "
Rub You the
Right Way", all made it to number 3 in the US top 100.
Ralph Tresvant had a number 4 hit (US top 100
charts) and number 1 hit (US R&B) with his song "
Sensitivity". Also in 1990 pop singer
Whitney Houston recorded "
I'm Your Baby Tonight", produced by
Babyface and his new jack swing producing partner
Antonio Reid. The single topped the US Hot 100,
giving Babyface his first produced #1 song while further helping to
bring the genre to the mainstream.
That same year,
Samuelle, a former member
of the
disco-infused
dance-
urban group
Club Nouveau had a number 1 R&B hit
with "
So You Like What You
See."
Troop also had a
number 1 hit with a single from their second album, Attitude,
entitled "
Spread My Wings".
"
Feels Good" by the Oakland, California
group
Tony! Toni! Toné! reached number 1 on the R&B
charts in 1990, and it also placed on the US top 100 (number 9) and
on the dance charts (number 3).
Today
charted again in 1990 with "
Why You Gettin' Funky On Me?",
which reached number 2 on the R&B charts. "
Let's Chill" by
Guy
garnered a number 3 spot on the US R&B charts.
Color Me Badd had a number 1 hit with
"
I Wanna Sex You Up". That same
year,
Christopher
Williams released a single "
I'm
Dreamin'" from the
New Jack
City soundtrack, which became a #1 single on Billboard's
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart.
Boyz II Men's
song "
Motownphilly" was a #1 R&B
hit and top five U.S. pop hits. "
I Like the Way " by
Hi-Five garnered the US #1 and R&B #1
spots.Jodeci's debut album Forever My Lady garnered 3 #1 R&B
Hits in the fall of 1991. (
Forever My Lady,
Stay, and
Come and Talk To
Me)."
Exclusivity" by
Damian Dame charted as number-one R&B
single, spending two weeks at the top position, a position also
achieved by
The Rude Boys with their
song "
Are You Lonely For Me".
In 1992,
Michael Jackson's single
"
Remember The Time" placed at
number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, number 2 on the Hot Dance
Music/Club, and number 1 in the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop category.
Chuckii Booker scored a #1 R&B
hit with his song "
Games". That same year,
"
She's Got That Vibe" by
R.Kelly and
Public Announcement reached the number 7
position on the R&B charts. "
Weak"
by
SWV (Sisters With Voices) hit the number one
spot on both the US top 100 and the R&B charts. In 1993:
"
Don't Walk Away" by
Jade made it to number 7 and number
3 in the US top 100 and R&B charts, respectively. The New Jack
R&B group
II D Extreme scored a hit
in 1993 with their New Jack ballad "
Cry No
More." TLC's debut album, "
Ooooooohhh....
On the TLC
Tip" (1992) had several hits, including "
What About Your Friends" and
"
Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg."
Young artists were given the spotlight during this era. They
include
Tracie Spencer with her hit
album
Make the Difference(1990) and groups like
The Boys with
The Boys (Motown,
1990),
Redhead Kingpin
and the F.B.I., who's Teddy Riley-produced debut album
A
Shade of Red contained the hit single "Pump it Hottie", which
reached #2 on the US Hot Rap Singles Chart in 1990, and
Another Bad Creation with
Coolin'
at the Playground Ya Know! (1991).
Artists
Criticism
As New Jack Swing became more popular in the early 1990s, there was
backlash from comparatively "harder" acts in
hip-hop (particularly
gangsta
rap), who felt that Brown and the NJS scene had "sold them
out", capitalizing on the early popularity of rap but watering down
its core message. In his song "
Wrong Nigga To Fuck Wit,"
Ice Cube criticized NJS with the line: "It ain't no
pop cause that sucks/And you can new jack
swing on my
nuts". This line was later sampled for NJS group
Tony! Toni! Toné!'s 1993 single "If I Had No
Loot".
References
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