# New jack swing
**New jack swing** is a fusion genre of popular music that combines the vocal style and songwriting of contemporary R&B with hip-hop rhythms, samples, and drum-machine production. It emerged in the late 1980s in New York, was associated above all with the producer [Teddy Riley](https://www.edgepedia.org/teddy-riley), and dominated American urban pop from roughly 1987 to the mid-1990s.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Also called | Swingbeat (the common name in Britain), new jack R&B[1](https://www.masterclass.com/articles/new-jack-swing) • [2](https://philpapers.org/archive/NICTMS-2.pdf) |
| Era | Roughly 1987 to approximately 1994[2](https://philpapers.org/archive/NICTMS-2.pdf) |
| Signature producers | Teddy Riley; Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis; L.A. Reid and Babyface; Denzil Foster and Thomas McElroy[3](https://www.allmusic.com/style/urban-ma0000011965) |
| Key artists | Guy, Bobby Brown, Keith Sweat, Al B. Sure!, Bell Biv DeVoe, En Vogue, Janet Jackson, New Edition, Michael Jackson[4](https://www.allmusic.com/style/new-jack-swing-ma0000005027) |
| Core instruments | E-mu SP-1200 and 808 drum machines, classic funk and soul samples, Akai S950 sampler, Yamaha DX100 bass[5](https://www.classicpopmag.com/features/popscene-new-jack-swing/) • [6](https://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2017/05/teddy-riley-new-jack-swing-oral-history/) |
| Signature albums | *Guy* (1988), *Don't Be Cruel* (1988), *Rhythm Nation 1814* (1989), *Dangerous* (1991)[7](https://www.allmusic.com/style/new-jack-swing-ma0000005027/albums) |
| Name coined by | Barry Michael Cooper, *Village Voice*, October 1987[8](https://www.factmag.com/2017/05/05/teddy-riley-new-jack-swing-interview/) |
## Sound and production
The style fused the melodic qualities of soul with the funky rhythms of rap. Some songs simply sat on hip-hop beats, others paired rapped verses with sung choruses, and the overall result was an edgier, more street-oriented R&B[4](https://www.allmusic.com/style/new-jack-swing-ma0000005027). Producer [Andre Harrell](https://www.edgepedia.org/andre-harrell) described it as "a combination of funk meets go-go meets hip-hop"; singer [Keith Sweat](https://www.edgepedia.org/keith-sweat) described harder beats mixed with real music, "real R&B with 808s and them drums and snares," giving records a feel that was more urban than soft R&B[9](https://www.revolt.tv/article/2017-10-23/45416/groove-me-the-story-of-new-jack-swing).
Swing quantization was the defining production move: every second sixteenth note on the drum-machine grid was shifted late by a set percentage, turning a machine rhythm into a shuffle[10](https://genre-ai.app/genre/new-jack-swing). Engineer Prince Charles Alexander recalled trying to reverse-engineer the sound on an Akai MPC, which had a swing function that could reshape a sixteen-note pattern[6](https://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2017/05/teddy-riley-new-jack-swing-oral-history/). Producer Hank Shocklee argued that what made a record unmistakably new jack swing was the snare: "loud and obnoxious and not in tune with the rest of the stuff," so that it stood out. Where 1980s R&B had not accentuated the drums, Riley's programming put the beat first, with simple but effective melodies on top[6](https://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2017/05/teddy-riley-new-jack-swing-oral-history/).
The instrumentation was tied to the newly available hardware of the late 1980s: the SP-1200 and 808 drum machines married to classic funk and soul samples, giving the style its crisp, synthesized sound[5](https://www.classicpopmag.com/features/popscene-new-jack-swing/). One bass patch became a generic of the genre: the Yamaha DX100's "Lately" bass, heard on [Heavy D](https://www.edgepedia.org/heavy-d)'s and Keith Sweat's records; [Alexander](https://www.edgepedia.org/alexander) and Dae Bennett also recalled the Akai S950 and E-mu Emulator II samplers as central tools of the era's records[6](https://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2017/05/teddy-riley-new-jack-swing-oral-history/).
## Naming and Teddy Riley
The name came from a journalist. Barry [Michael Cooper](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-cooper), writing for New York's *Village Voice*, was sent to Harlem's Apollo Theater to interview the then 20-year-old Teddy Riley about a new sound the young producer was credited with inventing; his October 1987 cover story, "Teddy Riley's New Jack Swing: Harlem Gangsters Raise a Genius," turned a headline into a permanent name for the style[5](https://www.classicpopmag.com/features/popscene-new-jack-swing/) • [8](https://www.factmag.com/2017/05/05/teddy-riley-new-jack-swing-interview/). One account notes the term is sometimes credited to Riley himself; Riley has said Cooper told him, "If you don't name it, it will not be famous"[2](https://philpapers.org/archive/NICTMS-2.pdf) • [11](https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/teddy-riley-on-what-its-like-to-create-a-genre-write-with-michael-jackson-and-nearly-lose-it-all/). Riley originally called the sound he was developing "street funk," intending to transform Parliament-style material[12](https://webfiles.ucpress.edu/oa/9780520383937_WEB.pdf).
Riley was a Harlem-born prodigy who took electronic courses at the Manhattan School of Music and became a synthesizer expert. By 1986, at age 20, he had formed Guy with singers Aaron Hall and Timmy Gatling; their self-titled 1988 debut on Uptown/MCA was a two-million-selling record that carried the sound from local club and college-party circuits to the top of the R&B albums chart[13](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Music-Connection/90/1991/Music-Connection-1991-03-18.pdf) • [14](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1991/10/18/life-of-riley-new-jack-guy/67c21c0d-3c5d-49b2-ab7c-11e47594a39f/). Engineer Dae Bennett recalled that the first Guy album was recorded almost entirely live, played by Riley in real time rather than sequenced, which is part of why it swings[6](https://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2017/05/teddy-riley-new-jack-swing-oral-history/).
AllMusic credits Riley, as a member of Guy, with crafting the fusion of hip-hop and R&B, inserting occasional rap breaks, and dubbing it new jack swing; the style made a superstar of [Bobby Brown](https://www.edgepedia.org/bobby-brown) and benefited his former [New Edition](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-edition) bandmates as well[3](https://www.allmusic.com/style/urban-ma0000011965). Shocklee noted that Bobby Brown's *Don't Be Cruel* began with [L.A. Reid](https://www.edgepedia.org/l-a-reid)'s "Don't Be Cruel" but "didn't really blow up until Teddy Riley got to it with 'My Prerogative'"; after that record, Brown became an international star[6](https://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2017/05/teddy-riley-new-jack-swing-oral-history/). The Associated Press credits Riley with the style's anthems, including Brown's "My Prerogative" and Keith Sweat's "I Want Her"[15](https://apnews.com/article/c18fb65bf50c71c685bfcf6fff3bac64).
## Chart peak and crossover
By the turn of the decade the style had absorbed other producers: [Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis](https://www.edgepedia.org/jimmy-jam-and-terry-lewis) ([Janet Jackson](https://www.edgepedia.org/janet-jackson)), Foster and McElroy ([En Vogue](https://www.edgepedia.org/en-vogue)), and Reid and Babyface dominated urban music alongside Riley, and hip-hop and R&B continued to cross-pollinate into the early 1990s[3](https://www.allmusic.com/style/urban-ma0000011965). Janet Jackson's *Rhythm Nation 1814* and albums by Babyface, New Edition, Tony! Toni! Toné!, Mary J. Blige, and R. Kelly stand among the style's catalog highlights[7](https://www.allmusic.com/style/new-jack-swing-ma0000005027/albums). Tony! Toni! Toné!'s 1990 single "Feels Good" gave the Oakland group its mainstream breakthrough, peaking at No. 9 on Billboard's Hot 100[16](https://apnews.com/article/fa510a0f03b219377b865f20b55e41ed).
The style's largest crossover came through [Michael Jackson](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-jackson). Riley co-produced Jackson's 1991 album *Dangerous* on the recommendation of [Quincy Jones](https://www.edgepedia.org/quincy-jones); the album did more than any other LP to popularize new jack swing, shifting an estimated 12 million copies worldwide and winning Best R&B/Soul Album at the 1991 [Soul Train Music Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/soul-train-music-awards)[5](https://www.classicpopmag.com/features/popscene-new-jack-swing/). Riley has described the project as "bringing Michael back to R&B" and noted that the sound "takes more than one person," crediting colleagues like Jam, Lewis, and Babyface alongside the artists[11](https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/teddy-riley-on-what-its-like-to-create-a-genre-write-with-michael-jackson-and-nearly-lose-it-all/). Kwame argued in the Red Bull oral history that Michael Jackson's involvement had a double edge: with Riley working almost exclusively for Jackson, a generation of listeners came to know "Remember the Time" and *Dangerous* without knowing Guy or the style's originator[6](https://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2017/05/teddy-riley-new-jack-swing-oral-history/).
The movement extended beyond records into film, television, and clothing: *House Party*, *In Living Color*, *Martin*, and the Cross Colours label were all part of the same visual and cultural moment[6](https://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2017/05/teddy-riley-new-jack-swing-oral-history/).
## New jill swing
The female counterpart to the style was **new jill swing**, which exploded in the late 1980s and early 1990s by fusing US hip-hop with pop and R&B. Acts associated with it include En Vogue, SWV, Pebbles, Karyn White, Jade, and Xscape; the Guardian's retrospective describes the movement as thrilling but constrained by sexism, racism, and unfair contracts[17](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/oct/23/new-jill-swing-r-and-b-jack-hip-hop-pop-female).
## Decline and successor styles
Participants in the Red Bull oral history date the style's fade to the mid-1990s. Kwame credited the British group Soul II Soul with changing R&B's direction, saying "Soul II Soul to Mary J. Blige ['Real Love'] – New Jack Swing was dead in two records"; Shocklee traced the commercial end to when acts like Color Me Badd made the sound fully mainstream[6](https://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2017/05/teddy-riley-new-jack-swing-oral-history/). The survey account places the end of the new jack swing era at approximately 1994[2](https://philpapers.org/archive/NICTMS-2.pdf).
AllMusic describes the direct successor: hip-hop soul, rooted in new jack swing but with funkier, more elastic and unpredictable beats and a grittier, more soulful feel, exemplified by singers such as Mary J. Blige[3](https://www.allmusic.com/style/urban-ma0000011965). Riley himself stayed active in the idiom; Blackstreet's 1996 hit "No Diggity," a US number one featuring a rap from Dr. Dre and a verse from Queen Pen, was built around a one-bar sample of Bill Withers' 1971 song "Grandma's Hands"[18](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/you-just-cant-put-bass-on-a-song-like-this-what-would-you-put-we-tried-to-have-bass-in-there-it-just-doesnt-work-teddy-riley-on-how-he-took-a-single-bar-of-a-classic-bill-withers-song-and-turned-it-into-one-of-the-greatest-r-and-b-records-of-all-time).
## Legacy
The style's structural legacy is the standard practice of singers and rappers sharing a record. Eddie F, a producer of the era, described new jack swing as "the beginning of mixing hip-hop and R&B music together," the foundation of the later format in which singers are featured with rappers and rappers with singers[9](https://www.revolt.tv/article/2017-10-23/45416/groove-me-the-story-of-new-jack-swing).
After giving way to hip-hop soul and neo-soul in the late 1990s, the style returned periodically as a conscious retro sound. Bruno Mars' 2016 album *24K Magic* and its single "Finesse" are described as being as definitively new jack swing as anything from the genre's chart-conquering heyday[5](https://www.classicpopmag.com/features/popscene-new-jack-swing/). Riley's own standing was recognized in 2023, when he was elected to the Songwriters Hall of Fame in a class that included Snoop Dogg, Gloria Estefan, and Sade[15](https://apnews.com/article/c18fb65bf50c71c685bfcf6fff3bac64).
## References
1. [What Is New Jack Swing? – MasterClass](https://www.masterclass.com/articles/new-jack-swing)
2. [The Music Sound (Nicolas Collins, et al.)](https://philpapers.org/archive/NICTMS-2.pdf)
3. [Urban Music Style Overview – AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/style/urban-ma0000011965)
4. [New Jack Swing Music Style Overview – AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/style/new-jack-swing-ma0000005027)
5. [Popscene: New Jack Swing – Classic Pop](https://www.classicpopmag.com/features/popscene-new-jack-swing/)
6. [Teddy Riley and New Jack Swing: An Oral History – Red Bull Music Academy Daily](https://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2017/05/teddy-riley-new-jack-swing-oral-history/)
7. [New Jack Swing Music Albums – AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/style/new-jack-swing-ma0000005027/albums)
8. [How Teddy Riley wrote his greatest new jack swing smashes – FACT Magazine](https://www.factmag.com/2017/05/05/teddy-riley-new-jack-swing-interview/)
9. [Groove Me: The story of New Jack Swing – REVOLT](https://www.revolt.tv/article/2017-10-23/45416/groove-me-the-story-of-new-jack-swing)
10. [New Jack Swing: History, Sound & Key Artists – Genre AI](https://genre-ai.app/genre/new-jack-swing)
11. [Teddy Riley on what it's like to create a genre – Music Business Worldwide](https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/teddy-riley-on-what-its-like-to-create-a-genre-write-with-michael-jackson-and-nearly-lose-it-all/)
12. [Luminos open access monograph (UC Press)](https://webfiles.ucpress.edu/oa/9780520383937_WEB.pdf)
13. [Guy – The Sounds of New Jack Swing – Music Connection (1991)](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Music-Connection/90/1991/Music-Connection-1991-03-18.pdf)
14. [Life of Riley: New Jack Guy – The Washington Post (1991)](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1991/10/18/life-of-riley-new-jack-guy/67c21c0d-3c5d-49b2-ab7c-11e47594a39f/)
15. [Snoop Dogg, Gloria Estefan, Sade make it to Songwriters Hall – Associated Press](https://apnews.com/article/c18fb65bf50c71c685bfcf6fff3bac64)
16. [Tony! Toni! Toné! say reuniting after 25 years 'Feels Good' – Associated Press](https://apnews.com/article/fa510a0f03b219377b865f20b55e41ed)
17. [The power and pain of R&B's 'new jill swing' era – The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/oct/23/new-jill-swing-r-and-b-jack-hip-hop-pop-female)
18. [Teddy Riley on how he built "No Diggity" – MusicRadar](https://www.musicradar.com/artists/you-just-cant-put-bass-on-a-song-like-this-what-would-you-put-we-tried-to-have-bass-in-there-it-just-doesnt-work-teddy-riley-on-how-he-took-a-single-bar-of-a-classic-bill-withers-song-and-turned-it-into-one-of-the-greatest-r-and-b-records-of-all-time)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical practice and theory › Popular music genres › Rhythm and blues and soul*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license