New Jack Swing / 80s-90s R&B
familyStarted 1987Peak 1988-1993Last big hit 1995
The sound of late-80s/early-90s R&B welded to hip-hop drum programming: hard swung 808/909 grooves, stuttering snares, bright stab synths and church-trained vocals stacked into glossy harmony. Polished, percussive, radio-loud — soul singers riding rap rhythm, equally built for the club and the slow-dance.
History
Coined in a 1987 Village Voice piece by Barry Michael Cooper describing Teddy Riley's Harlem productions for Guy and Keith Sweat. Riley fused hip-hop's swung programming with R&B vocals; the formula spread through Bobby Brown, Bell Biv DeVoe, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, and Babyface, dominating Black radio until grittier hip-hop soul took over by mid-decade.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_jack_swing
- https://timeline.carnegiehall.org/genres/new-jack-swing
- https://www.masterclass.com/articles/new-jack-swing