The Song Planner

New Jack Swing Rap

tagStarted 1987Peak 1988-1993Last big hit 1994

Located in 1 route

Hip-Hop / Rap → Pop / Melodic / R&B Rap

Late-'80s/early-'90s fusion of hip-hop drum programming with slick urban-contemporary R&B: Teddy Riley's signature 'swingbeat' - hard, swung/shuffled sixteenth-note drum machine patterns - under shouted rap hooks, gospel-tinged harmonies, and synth-brass stabs. Glossy, danceable, exuberant. The first major bridge between rap energy and radio-R&B polish.

History

Pioneered by producer Teddy Riley with Andre Harrell at Uptown Records; journalist Barry Michael Cooper named the sound in a 1987 Village Voice profile of Riley. Riley's productions for Guy, Bobby Brown, Heavy D and others - alongside Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis - defined late-'80s urban radio, peaking through the early '90s before West Coast G-funk and grittier sounds eclipsed it.

Defining artists

Essential listening

← Explore Hip-Hop / Rap

Sources

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_jack_swing
  • https://www.villagevoice.com/teddy-rileys-new-jack-swing/
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wreckx-n-Effect
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poison_(Bell_Biv_DeVoe_song)