# Blackstreet
**Blackstreet** is an American R&B vocal group founded in New York by the singer, producer, and new jack swing pioneer [Teddy Riley](https://www.edgepedia.org/teddy-riley) after the breakup of his trio Guy, best known for the Grammy-winning number-one pop hit "[No Diggity](https://www.edgepedia.org/no-diggity)" (1996).[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/blackstreet-p37454/biography) Sources disagree on the founding year: the group's management biography says it was co-founded in 1991 by Riley and Chauncey "Black" Hannibal,[2](https://www.pmusicgroup.com/client/blackstreet-2-bs2/) while AllMusic lists the formation as 1993 in New York, NY.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/blackstreet-p37454/biography)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Founded | New York; 1991 per the group's management biography, 1993 per AllMusic[2](https://www.pmusicgroup.com/client/blackstreet-2-bs2/) • [1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/blackstreet-p37454/biography) |
| Original lineup | Teddy Riley, Chauncey Hannibal, Levi Little, and Dave Hollister[3](https://teddyrileyproductions.com/timeline.html) |
| Debut album | *Blackstreet* (1994), certified Platinum on April 19, 1995, with the singles "Booti Call", "Before I Let You Go" (a Top 10 hit), and "Joy"[4](https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?se=Blackstreet&tab_active=default-award) • [2](https://www.pmusicgroup.com/client/blackstreet-2-bs2/) |
| Breakthrough | *Another Level* (1996), No. 3 on the Billboard chart, certified 4x Platinum on November 19, 1997[4](https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?se=Blackstreet&tab_active=default-award) • [2](https://www.pmusicgroup.com/client/blackstreet-2-bs2/) |
| Signature hit | "No Diggity" (feat. Dr. Dre and Queen Pen), No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in November 1996; 1998 Grammy for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals[2](https://www.pmusicgroup.com/client/blackstreet-2-bs2/) • [5](https://www.grammy.com/artists/blackstreet/7624/) |
| Third album | *Finally* (1999), certified Gold on October 12, 1999, featuring "Take Me There"[4](https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?se=Blackstreet&tab_active=default-award) • [1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/blackstreet-p37454/biography) |
| Later standing | "No Diggity" entered Spotify's Billions Club in December 2025; the catalog has earned gold and platinum certifications in 10 countries and more than four billion streams[6](https://news.pollstar.com/2026/04/10/blackstreet-to-kick-off-summer-run-with-global-pass-3-shows-in-3-days-across-3-continents/) |
## Origins and the new jack swing context
Blackstreet emerged from the new jack swing movement, a style blending emotionally rich R&B singing with hip hop beats and electronically crafted production, which held sway over radio, clubs, and the charts from the close of the 1980s into the 1990s.[7](https://www.teddyriley.com/about) Riley is widely credited as the style's creator; the term itself was coined by the Village Voice critic Barry Michael Cooper, whom the Los Angeles Times in 1996 described as having named "the amalgamation of classic, gospel-inspired vocals with hard-core beats and plenty of street attitude" built through Riley's hits for artists including [Bobby Brown](https://www.edgepedia.org/bobby-brown) and [Michael Jackson](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-jackson).[8](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-11-24-ca-2259-story.html)
After Guy broke up, Riley spent several years concentrating on his production career, working with Wreckx-N-Effect, Bobby Brown, Michael Jackson, and SWV, among others.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/blackstreet-p37454/biography) Working out of his Future Studios, he then formed Blackstreet and built a new vocal group around his production from the ground up; he had known Hannibal from employing him at Future Studios.[3](https://teddyrileyproductions.com/timeline.html) According to Apple Music's album notes, the rest of the initial lineup, including Hannibal, were background singers Riley discovered during sessions for Bobby Brown's album *Bobby*.[9](https://music.apple.com/us/album/blackstreet/1443851345)
## The debut album (1994)
The self-titled debut *Blackstreet* appeared in 1994 on [Interscope Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/interscope-records), a 20-track, 73-minute album on which Riley returned to performing while continuing the new jack tradition and helping R&B cross over from urban radio to the [Top 40](https://www.edgepedia.org/top-40).[9](https://music.apple.com/us/album/blackstreet/1443851345) • [10](https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/self-titled-blackstreet-debut-album/) The album was certified Platinum on April 19, 1995.[4](https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?se=Blackstreet&tab_active=default-award) It peaked at No. 7 on Billboard's Top R&B Albums chart and sold 941,000 copies according to SoundScan.[11](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/90s/1996/BB-1996-08-17.pdf)
The singles "Booti Call" and "Before I Let You Go" were both Top 40 hits, with "Before I Let You Go" reaching the Top 10; "Joy", a session leftover Riley co-wrote with Michael Jackson, was a tribute to his daughter.[2](https://www.pmusicgroup.com/client/blackstreet-2-bs2/) • [9](https://music.apple.com/us/album/blackstreet/1443851345) Of the album's 20 tracks, only "Before I Let You Go" crossed over to the pop audience, but the record also featured a collaboration with a then-unknown Riley protégé, [Pharrell Williams](https://www.edgepedia.org/pharrell-williams), on "Tonight's the Night".[9](https://music.apple.com/us/album/blackstreet/1443851345)
## Another Level and "No Diggity"
Before the second album, Levi Little and Dave Hollister left the group and were replaced by Mark Middleton and [Eric Williams](https://www.edgepedia.org/eric-williams), joining the core of Riley and Hannibal.[11](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/90s/1996/BB-1996-08-17.pdf) *Another Level*, released in 1996, blended street-level rhythms with urban soul and pop crossover potential, positioning the quartet as an heir to the classic R&B vocal group tradition.[12](https://www.allmusic.com/album/another-level-mw0000074850) It peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard chart and went four times platinum in the United States.[2](https://www.pmusicgroup.com/client/blackstreet-2-bs2/) By early 1999 Billboard reported the title had sold more than 3.1 million units according to SoundScan.[13](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/90s/1999/BB-1999-02-20.pdf)
**"No Diggity".** The lead single featured the rappers [Dr. Dre](https://www.edgepedia.org/dr-dre) and Queen Pen and built on a sampled [Bill Withers](https://www.edgepedia.org/bill-withers) vocal. According to Apple Music's retrospective notes, the song was almost left off the album entirely: Riley's old band Guy turned it down, and so did Blackstreet's other members at first.[14](https://music.apple.com/us/album/another-level/1440908643) The song reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in November 1996 and won the 1998 Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.[2](https://www.pmusicgroup.com/client/blackstreet-2-bs2/) • [5](https://www.grammy.com/artists/blackstreet/7624/) The Recording Academy lists Blackstreet with one Grammy win from one nomination.[5](https://www.grammy.com/artists/blackstreet/7624/) The single was itself certified Platinum on December 6, 1996.[4](https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?se=Blackstreet&tab_active=default-award) The follow-up single "Don't Leave Me", an R&B ballad, was also a Top 40 hit.[2](https://www.pmusicgroup.com/client/blackstreet-2-bs2/)
The song's standing has endured: it is ranked No. 91 on the Rolling Stone & MTV list of the 100 Greatest Pop Songs,[2](https://www.pmusicgroup.com/client/blackstreet-2-bs2/) it spent four weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100,[15](https://www.musicconnection.com/signing-stories-blackstreet/) and it entered Spotify's Billions Club in December 2025.[6](https://news.pollstar.com/2026/04/10/blackstreet-to-kick-off-summer-run-with-global-pass-3-shows-in-3-days-across-3-continents/)
## Finally and later activity
The third album, *Finally*, was released in early 1999 and certified Gold on October 12, 1999.[4](https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?se=Blackstreet&tab_active=default-award) AllMusic notes that despite the guest cameos and the single "Take Me There", the album spent only one week in the Top Ten.[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/blackstreet-p37454/biography) A Billboard feature from February 1999 described the members' anxiety in following *Another Level*, with the group then consisting of Riley, Hannibal, Terrell Phillips, and Eric Williams.[13](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/90s/1999/BB-1999-02-20.pdf)
The group's lineup has continued to change. A later configuration described by the group's management included founding member Riley, original member Dave Hollister, and newer members Lenny Harold, Tony Tyler, and J-Stylz.[2](https://www.pmusicgroup.com/client/blackstreet-2-bs2/) By 2025 the touring group was led by Chauncey "Black" Hannibal, Levi Little, Mark Middleton, and Eric Williams, the voices behind the group's best-known recordings, and the act signed with XOXO Entertainment Corp.[16](https://www.paquinentertainment.com/artist/blackstreet) In April 2026 the group announced "The Global Pass", three shows in three days across three continents: [Casablanca](https://www.edgepedia.org/casablanca), Morocco (June 18), London's O2 Arena with TLC and Jodeci (June 19), and the Freedom Vibes Juneteenth Festival in [Fort Worth, Texas](https://www.edgepedia.org/fort-worth-texas) (June 20), launching a summer tour through August.[6](https://news.pollstar.com/2026/04/10/blackstreet-to-kick-off-summer-run-with-global-pass-3-shows-in-3-days-across-3-continents/)
## Style and legacy
Blackstreet's sound joined tight four-part harmony singing to Riley's sampler- and drum-machine-based new jack swing production, a mix Apple Music characterizes as more "hip-hop" in attitude than in literal rhyming verse, with Riley's signature vocoder and funk influences from Zapp and [George Clinton](https://www.edgepedia.org/george-clinton-funk-musician).[9](https://music.apple.com/us/album/blackstreet/1443851345) AllMusic's review of the debut highlights the group's four-part harmonies as the glue behind its catchy R&B tracks.[17](https://www.allmusic.com/album/r203148) The group's catalog has earned gold and platinum certifications in 10 countries and generated more than four billion streams, and it remains a source of samples and covers for new audiences.[6](https://news.pollstar.com/2026/04/10/blackstreet-to-kick-off-summer-run-with-global-pass-3-shows-in-3-days-across-3-continents/) • [16](https://www.paquinentertainment.com/artist/blackstreet)
## References
1. [Blackstreet Biography by Steve Huey, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/blackstreet-p37454/biography)
2. [BLACKSTREET, The Official P Music Site](https://www.pmusicgroup.com/client/blackstreet-2-bs2/)
3. [Teddy Riley Productions, Timeline](https://teddyrileyproductions.com/timeline.html)
4. [RIAA Gold & Platinum: Blackstreet](https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?se=Blackstreet&tab_active=default-award)
5. [Blackstreet, Grammy Awards and Nominations, Recording Academy](https://www.grammy.com/artists/blackstreet/7624/)
6. [Blackstreet To Kick Off Summer Run With 'Global Pass', Pollstar News (April 10, 2026)](https://news.pollstar.com/2026/04/10/blackstreet-to-kick-off-summer-run-with-global-pass-3-shows-in-3-days-across-3-continents/)
7. [About, Teddy Riley Official Site](https://www.teddyriley.com/about)
8. [Mr. New Jack Swings Back, Los Angeles Times (November 24, 1996)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-11-24-ca-2259-story.html)
9. [Blackstreet, Apple Music album notes](https://music.apple.com/us/album/blackstreet/1443851345)
10. [Blackstreet's Debut Album: How Teddy Riley Got His Groove Back, uDiscover Music](https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/self-titled-blackstreet-debut-album/)
11. [BLACKstreet Shifts Musica, Billboard (August 17, 1996)](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/90s/1996/BB-1996-08-17.pdf)
12. [Blackstreet: Another Level Tracks & Reviews, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/album/another-level-mw0000074850)
13. [R&B Artists & Music, Billboard (February 20, 1999)](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/90s/1999/BB-1999-02-20.pdf)
14. [Another Level, Apple Music album notes](https://music.apple.com/us/album/another-level/1440908643)
15. [Signing Stories: Blackstreet, Music Connection](https://www.musicconnection.com/signing-stories-blackstreet/)
16. [Blackstreet, Artist Roster, Paquin Entertainment](https://www.paquinentertainment.com/artist/blackstreet)
17. [Blackstreet: Blackstreet Tracks & Reviews, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/album/r203148)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musicians and ensembles › Ensembles and groups › Choirs and vocal groups › Gospel, barbershop, and popular vocal groups › Soul, R&B, and Motown vocal groups*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license