I read this article around the same time you posted this. For the life of me I never knew what New Jack Swing even was until I read that article. I knew it was R&B but I didn’t know what separated it within that genre.
Really. For years I just thought it was some gimmick name for R&B that didn’t particularly mean anything. I wonder how many people knew exactly what it was because nobody ever actually came out and defined what NJS is. If they did I must have missed it.
Yeah but what NJS actually is is R&B singing over hip hop style music/beats. Apparently before Riley they only did R&B singing over R&B music.
I remember reading a while back that Arsenio Hall's TV show had a big impact on R&B (as well as rap.) In the 80' in the US, almost all pop music stations were top 40 stations. You would occasionally hear crossover hits from country, jazz, rap or R&B artists. Toward the late 80's you started getting more and more black groups (thanks to exposure on Arsenio) having crossover hits and soon after in the 90's, radio stations became more segregated with more stations catering to fans of urban music. While pop stations went from top 40 Playlist to either pop or rock formats.
I remember hearing the term, "bump & grind" to describe most of the R &B music of the 90's. While R&B groups traditionally talked about love and relationships, bump & grind was more about sexual desires.
I just knew the term New Jack, in part because of the Wesley Snipes movie, and also because I listened to a lot of Bobby Brown & BBD in that period and people used the phrase, but didn’t know exactly what it was until many years later.
From the Beginning, It was Pretty Obvious What "New Jack Swing" Was, to REED; R & B w/Hip Hop Swag , Beats and Attitude...R & B You Could Actually NOD Your Head To... Got to a Point Where Hip Hop Dudes were COOLER, So R & B Dudes Got EDGIER...Bobby Brown is ARGUABLY the Original "New Jack Swing" Artist, Because Even in his New Edition Days, Bobby was EDGY...Coolest Dude in New Edition By a Mile, in REED's Opinion... Teddy Riley Made it Famous via Production Value, But the SEEDS of "New Jack Swing" were Planted Earlier... Guy was DOPE AF...Teddy's Ego Got in the Way When He Changed the Name of the Group to "Guy - Featuring Teddy Riley", But They Left an Imprint on the Industry, Undoubtedly... Next Thing You Know, RKelly's Basically Writing RHYMES, He's Just HARMONIZING Instead of Rapping (He Mimicked Aaron Hall's VIBE Quite a Bit Too)...And Jodeci Literally DRESSED Like a Hip Hop Group as they Sang R & B... Nowadays, Most R & B Songs Utilize Hip-Hop Styled LYRICISM and Themes That Aren't as CORNY as Pre-"New Jack Swing" R & B Was... REED
I never bought their albums and don't know much about them but that group, After 7 (or After Seven) had some good songs and some amazing voices in that group.
“Ready or Not” was their Biggest Hit and Still Played Frequently On Radio to This Day… 2 of the 3 Members were the Brothers of Babyface (“Whip Appeal”), Who Wrote/Produced All Their Material… REED
Yes. One of the guys really sounds like Babyface. And as I remember, Babyface was in a group (Deal?) before he was a solo artist.
They Did a CHEESY Ass, Yet MELODIC Song Called "Shoot 'em Up Movies" Too... LA Reid and Babyface were Both in "The Deele"... REED
There was tension between rappers and NJS R&B artists, sometimes rappers would take shots at them in their lyrics. ATCQ said something in a song that was interpreted as a diss towards NJS. Teddy Riley’s brother from Wrecks-N-Effect (Rump Shaker) and his crew beat up Q-Tip. That LA Reid/Babyface production with Bobby Brown was golden. They did all the hit singles on that classic Don’t Be Cruel album except for My Preogative, which was another hit from Teddy. The BET miniseries ‘The New Edition Story’ was very good, especially it being made-for-TV. It was also funny how there was a scene for about 30 seconds with someone playing Al B. Sure, and its about how he’s not a good live performer like N.E. & Bobby. I liked some of his songs, but he was terrible live.
Yep, it was Actually a Phife Verse that Got 'Tip Jumped... "I'm all into my music cause that's how i make papes Try to make hits like Kid Capri makes tapes Me sweat another, I do my own thing Strictly hardcore tracks, not a New Jack Swing" From "Jazz (We Got)" off the Low End Theory Album.. Fairly INNOCENT Rhyme, on the Surface, but w/Tribe NEVER Being a "Tough Guy" Sort of Group, REED Can See Why One Hit Wonder's Like Wrecks 'N Effect Would Literally JUMP @ the Opportunity to Look "Hard" @ the Expense of a Hip Hop Crew... REED
Cheers. I owned Straight to the Point back in the day before it got stolen. I should rebuy that. It was great.
Contemporary R&B beef. Timex Social Club's producer, Jay King,claimed he was unjustly blamed and fired after he offered the band advice warning them about music industry insiders. When he started his own band, Club Nouveau, their first single was an answer dis to TSC's "Rumors."
I’m pretty heavy into my R&B but I don’t think I’ve ever listened to an album by After 7. They’re certainly not in my music collection.
Listen to some of it first mate. I'm pretty sure you bought an album on my recommendation once and you hated it. I really liked SttP but I also haven't heard it since the late 90s when it got stolen (along with my copy of WBBD Bootcity). Another one I'll need to rebuy.
I don’t recall buying an album on your recommendation. Maybe It wasn’t me. Also I should have been more specific. My intention was to pirate the album. Unfortunately pirating sources are few and far between these days and the sources I checked didn’t have that album. My last option is to get it from YouTube because I don’t use a music subscription service.
Pirate away. I'm pretty sure I recommended Rythmalism from DJ Quik and you hating it. Might not have been you.
Might have been me after all, as I did buy that album and do remember initially hating it. It did wind up growing on me pretty big though and I was happy with it in the end. So you don’t have to feel bad about that anymore, after all these years you can finally let that guilt go.
