New Jack Swing

I remember being a kid playing basketball with my brother and his friends. We were all trying to be cool, so we had our shirts off and the music cranked up. BelBivDevoe singing "That girl is poison!!" while we battled it out on the court. Those were the days with no responsibilities. All that mattered was pick up games and good tunes. I occasionally try to relive those days, but it's never the same.

It was about 5 years ago when I learned what New Jack Swing Music is. It's basically a street beat from the 80's and early 90's laced with r&b type singing over the top of it. Teddy Riley is claimed to be the "King of New Jack Swing". His first big group was Guy. Being raised in Utah, I'd never even heard of the group until I was reading up on music groups from the genre. He also went on to produce and write songs for Keith Sweat, Bobby Brown, Black Street, Michael Jackson, Heavy D. and the Boys, Wreckx n Effect, Al B. Sure!, and many others.

Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds was another big player. He created hits for Bobby Brown, Paula Abdul, Toni Braxton, TLC, and Boyz II Men. He went on to create LaFace Records with Antonio L.A. Reid. He has also worked with many other artists including Sisqo, Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Vanessa Williams, Az Yet, Whitney Houston, Madonna, Brandy, Mary J. Blige, Michael Jackson, Tevin Campbell, Janet Jackson, and 3T. That's a pretty impressive list if you ask me.

I have subsequently gone out and purchased albums from most of these artists and lots of others that were one hit wonders. I guess I can't leave out Hi Five, Troop, or Tony Toni Tone.

It's fun for me to see how different groups are connected. New Edition broke up and spawned several efforts. Bobby Brown, Johnny Gill, and Ralph Tresvant went solo and Ricky Bell, Ronnie DeVoe, and Michael Bivens created BelBivDevoe. Michael Bivens went on to discover Boyz II Men and produced their first album. 98 Degrees was discovered when they snuck backstage after a Boyz II Men concert.

You may or may not agree with what I write next. "Boy Band" music was developed from the New Jack Swing style. Not that the music sounds the same, but the fundamentals are still there. Dance music laced with r&b vocals. The beats aren't as "street" sounding for a good reason. Most of the groups are predominately made up of white dudes. Not to mention that the slow songs are a lot more sappy and a lot less soulful. Some of the groups did throw in some rap hooks to try and flavor up the sound, but it mostly just sounds weak in comparison. Many New Jack Swing songs are covered by Boy Band artists as well. All things said, I'm not ashamed to be a fan of this music.

I love to write and sing my own music as well. I created a band with my friend Bryan Montemayor called B n' G. Go to myspace.com/bryangeoff to hear it. Our sound is influenced by many of the above artists. We sing, write, and produce all of our own music. We even throw in a rap here and there for fun.

Although I love all types of music from classical to rap to pop to metal, New Jack Swing will always be one of my favorite sounds. If you want to hear a couple of the classics, go to the videos below.