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| Teddy Riley (new jack
swing) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Teddy Riley Background information Birth name Edward Theodore Riley Born October 8, 1967 Origin Harlem, New York United States Genre(s) New Jack Swing, R&B, Hiphop, pop Occupation(s) Producer, Musician, Performer Years active 1986–present Label(s) Interscope MCA Associated acts Guy, Blackstreet, Wreckx-N-Effect Website N/A Teddy Riley (born Edward Theodore Riley, October 8, 1967 in Harlem, New York) is an American R&B and hip-hop singer, songwriter, musician and producer who was the ring leader of the most influential groups of R&B in two separate decades - Guy in the 80s and Blackstreet in the 90s. Riley is mostly responsible for making a successful fusion of hip-hop and R&B in the late 1980s which was called New jack swing. Riley began his producing and recording career in the mid-1980s producing hits for rappers Doug E. Fresh & Slick Rick. His composition of one-hit wonder Johnny Kemp's "Just Got Paid" became a very popular track reaching #1 on the Billboard R&B charts in the spring of 1988. He was also known of producing hits for Keith Sweat on his debut album "Make It Last Forever", released in November 1987 which produced number one hits such as "I Want Her" and "Something Just Ain't Right". He even produced tracks for hip hop artists such as Kool Moe Dee and Heavy D & the Boyz on their debut album "Livin' Large" (1987) on Uptown/MCA records. Riley got the idea of forming his own group after it was suggested to him that a younger singer named Aaron Hall was looking to join a group. After meeting at a New York mall, Riley and Hall became friends and formed what would be Guy in 1987. Complete with a third member - Timmy Gatling - they recorded and finished their self-titled debut in the summer 1988, which by the time of Gatling's exit and Hall's younger brother Damian's entry, had sold over 3 million copies with hits like "Groove Me", "Teddy's Jam", "Piece of My Love", "I Like", and "Spend the Night". The album had established the group as a unique R&B musical force through out the end of the 1980s into the 1990s. "The Future", the second album released by Guy in the autumn of 1990 produced hits such as "Let's Chill" and "Do Me Right". He turned Heavy D & the Boyz into a hip hop powerhouse in 1989 by producing tracks for their sophomore effort "Big Tyme" which hit songs such as "We Got Our Thang" and "Somebody For Me" which featured notable new jack swing musician Al B. Sure. After achieving in the late 1980s and the early1990s success with Guy, Riley left to produce for acts such as Wreckx-N-Effect (included his brother Markell Riley), Bobby Brown, Heavy D, BlackGirl, Boy George, and Michael Jackson, who would have Riley produce for his records following the release of his 1991 album Dangerous (Riley produced the Jackson song, "Remember the Time"). Even throughout his reign as producer, Riley found time to form another band - Blackstreet - in 1993. After the modest success of their 1994 self-titled debut (featuring the hits "Booty Call" and "Before I Let Go"), he took the group to national prominence with the release of their sophomore effort, "Another Level", in 1996, which featured their biggest-selling hit to date, "No Diggity". Ironically, since its success, Riley's prowess as a producer dimmed as the 90s progressed. In 2005, he had disbanded and reformed Blackstreet. Teddy also worked on an album with Outsiderz 4 Life [1] producing Wil' Out and others. At the start of 2006, Teddy, started the New Jack Swing revival, with the New Jack reunion tour, featuring acts, in addition to BLACKstreet and Guy, After 7, SWV and Toni Tone Tony. At the same time, Teddy, announced that he would be working on three key projects[citation needed]. A new Blackstreet album, a new Guy album and also would be working with Michael Jackson for his comeback album. Riley is also credited for discovering The Neptunes. Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teddy_Riley_%28new_jack_swing%29" Categories: Articles with unsourced statements | 1967 births | Living people |