Guy‘s classic lineup, from left, Teddy Riley, Aaron Hall and Damion Hall, will headline a New Jack Swing revival show Jan. 7 at Foxwoods Casino. The reunited group hasn‘t toured in 14 or 15 years. |
In sharp contrast, Riley's contributions to the music business over the past 20-plus years have been monumental. As a producer, singer and multi-instrumentalist, he has brought out the best in top hip-hop and R&B acts, including two of his own — Guy and Blackstreet.
Riley, who recently reunited both seminal acts, will perform sets with each Jan. 7 at Foxwoods Casino in Mashantucket. The third group on the bill, longtime Riley associates SWV, rounds out a lineup of New Jack Swing legends. The genre, which Riley started in the mid-'80s, combines soulful vocals with hip-hop beats, mixing in elements of R&B and funk.
While Riley is recognized as the king of the genre, the term comes from a 1991 film.
Miller/ZUMA Press
New Jack Swing stars Blackstreet, best known for their Grammy Award-winning smash hit, "No Diggity," will perform with Guy and SWV at Foxwoods. The reunited lineup includes veteran members, from left, Mark Middleton, Teddy Riley and Eric Williams. They‘ll be joined by newcomer Sherman "J-Stylz" Tisdale. |
"It was given to me by Barry Michael Cooper, who wrote 'New Jack City,'Ÿ" Riley said in a Dec. 19 interview from his home in Virginia Beach, Va. "He thought the movie and the music was something that I designed because I'm from the New Jack City and I was the first New Jack swinger on the block. So he said, 'Take this name and run with it. This is your music.'
"It was something I thought was very sophisticated, young music and music people designed their lives around," he added. "The Guy stuff, we were a culture. We were a big influence on the streets, on the ghetto, on the hood. The music made people happy, made people cry, made people do everything. It designed their dress styles. Guys didn't think it was cool to dress jiggy or dress fly and wear suits again to a party, to wear silk shirts and different things like that. We started that culture."
Born Oct. 8, 1967, Riley grew up in Harlem, N.Y. His mother sang with a gospel group and in church. His uncles played guitar. Meanwhile, Riley wanted to do it all. By age 8, he had learned to play drums, guitar, trumpet and piano. His influences included George Clinton, Miles Davis, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye, Rod Stewart, Phil Collins, Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra.
Damion Hall, Teddy Riley and Aaron Hall, collectively known as Guy, pioneered the musical genre known as New Jack Swing in the mid-1980s. The group will share a bill with Blackstreet and SWV on Jan. 7 at Foxwoods Casino. |
When Riley was 14, he began to learn songwriting and recording from Royal Bayyan, whose brother, Amir, played in Kool and the Gang. Five years later, Riley began producing for rappers Kool Moe Dee, Classical Two and Doug E. Fresh.
"And then my first R&B act was Keith Sweat," Riley said. "It was cool because it was something I always wanted to do. I always thought doing it all was an adventure for me."
In 1987, Riley started the rap group Wreckx-N-Effect, which featured his younger brother, Markell. Teddy Riley, who also has an older brother, David, collaborated with the group on 1992's platinum "Hard Or Smooth" LP, which featured the No. 2 urban hit "Rump Shaker."
By this time, Riley had made a name for himself as a performer with his New Jack Swing group, Guy, which also featured brothers Aaron and Damion Hall. Formed in 1985, the group released its self-titled, double platinum debut in 1988. It included the hits "Teddy's Jam," "I Like," "Groove Me" and "Spend The Night."
"Ÿ'Spend The Night' was (about) being with the mother of my kids today," Riley said. "She's in that song when Aaron says, 'Teddy, meet Donna. Donna, meet Teddy.' It really brings back a lot of memories."
Guy followed with 1990's platinum "The Future" LP, featuring the Top Five hits "Let's Chill," "Do Me Right" and "Wanna Get With You."
"My favorite from 'The Future' is 'Let's Chill,'Ÿ" Riley said. "What made me write that song was I was dealing with a lot of relationships and females and I just said, 'You know what? I've gotta chill. I've gotta settle down.' And it just made me do that for a while.'Ÿ"
He produced for childhood hero Michael Jackson on 1992's Grammy-winning "Dangerous" LP, 1995's "HIStory" LP and 2001's "Invincible" album.
"It was hard at some points, but a great experience," Riley said. "It was fun because he is such a fun guy. And after a little while, he made life easy. It was the greatest experience and he made me step up my game."
In 1994, Riley released the platinum, self-titled debut by his second New Jack Swing outfit, Blackstreet. The album featured the hits "Before I Let You Go," "Booti Call" and "Joy."
Its follow-up, 1996's "Another Level," went four-times platinum and featured the No. 1 hits "Don't Leave Me" and "No Diggity," the latter a Grammy winner featuring Dr. Dre.
"Dr. Dre asked us to be on the record," Riley said. "He loved it so much that he was like, 'Could you tell Teddy to put me in the video for this one?' And I said, 'Well, let's do better than putting you in the video. Why don't you come and be on it?'Ÿ"
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"He's really incredible — a great addition to the group," Riley said. "He's the perfect match. All of the guys who are not with us, he fulfilled their part in a big way. In fact, if I had to do it all over again, he would be one of the members."
Riley, who plans to move to the Virginia countryside, has a daughter, Nia, 16, and cousins who lives in New Haven. Never married and single for the past eight months, Riley declined to say how many children he has.
Regardless, he's excited about the Foxwoods show. SWV will open, followed by Blackstreet, which last toured in 2002. Riley said he gets three minutes to change his outfit before taking the stage with headliners Guy, a group that last toured 14 or 15 years ago.
"I like performing and being behind the scenes," said Riley, who is working on a new joint album with Guy and Blackstreet. "Both of them are great experiences. Sometimes I want to be out, sometimes I don't.
"What I like the most about being onstage is I get to show and share the music that I've done for so long and (see) people still loving it," Riley added. "It's a great feeling that people are singing your songs and half of the time you don't have to sing the words or anything because people are singing them."
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The show begins at 9 p.m. in the casino's Fox Theatre on Route 2. Tickets are $60.50 and $49.50. Call (800) 200-2882.
첫댓글 j-stylz 라... 느낌 좋네용 좋은 소식 감사합니다
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역시 천시 한니발과의 사이가 좋지 못하군요..-_-; 여튼 천시 한니발이 그렇게 테디에게 diss를 해놓고 4집 나왔던게 좀 의아해 했었는데...