What Are The Qualities Of New Jack Swing

B

BReaKaBReaKa

New member
I was just curious what the general characteristics are of new jack swing as produced by such artists as teddi riley are. From the name swing i took it that the beats came off as more syncopated and "swung" more but could someone please clarify it. I always appreciate the advice anyone has.
thanks
BR
 
Damn. That's a good question. Musically, I'm not sure. I always thought it was just a marketing phenomenon of Uptown Records. But there was something different and strange happening there too.

It was clearly a reaction to early 80s synth and drum machine based R&B music. It was funkier, had some gospel elements, was more fun with and had an edge from Hiphop.

I guess it is to blame for all or most of the whack R&B out today and over the past 10 years too. RKelly was on it. Dallas Austin was on it. Jermaine Dupree was on it. Devante Swing helped to alter it and Timbalin helped to end it.

Rhythmically, Timbo and other cats like Mannie Fresh and Dame Grease/Swizzbeats used old school BoomBap and/or latin rhythms that were much more involved and complicated than New Jack. Listen to most New Jack, and it feels easy or simple rhythmically.

Anyway, I liked New Jack most of time. But, I can see how much things have changed when I sit with my daughter and watch and listen to the intro music for the old tv show, "Sista Sista."

Peace.
 
"Rhythmically, Timbo and other cats like Mannie Fresh and Dame Grease/Swizzbeats used old school BoomBap and/or latin rhythms that were much more involved and complicated than New Jack. "

homershines-
thanks for the reply. you know where i could get resources on boombap? would salsa cover general latin rhtyhms or what styles would you recommend for "latin". i still like on the old new jack records when they start out like "swing it". (just a random thought). thanks bro
BR
 
What I mean by Old Skool BoomBap is straight drum machine rhythms and scratching...think "Sucka MCs." Latin stuff is harder to pinpoint and describe. That's a massive thang. many countries and cultures. Everything from Santana and Azteca, to the Fania All Stars and Ray Barreto to Machito and Traditional Afro-Cuban Folklorico music and more....

Good luck and peace.
 
homershines said:


Anyway, I liked New Jack most of time. But, I can see how much things have changed when I sit with my daughter and watch and listen to the intro music for the old tv show, "Sista Sista."
Click to expand...

you totally lost me. I was feelin ya up until the last sentence
 
Tyree;
Have you listened to the theme song of "Sista Sista?"

If not, check it out. Comes on twice a night on the Disney Channel around dinner time.

Classic 3rd string New Jack.

Peace.
 
New Jack swing was actually taken from the infamous Leo Gram. Legendary producer for acts such as Tyrone Davis and the Manhattans. Teddy Riley visited Mr. Gram's house in the early 90s and spent time with him and then mess around and came up with New Jack out of no where. Its quite crazy but very true. Witnessing it changed my life. Oh well, thats my two cents.
 
Word, New Jack Swing was made big by Teddy Riley's productions (Bobby Brown, Heavy D, Keith Sweat, Wrecks n Effect, etc.).




"Me sweat another? I do my own thing
Strictly hardcore tracks, not a new jack swing"
-Phife Dawg
 
While I am not a musician, this topic is of great interest to me. In my view, New Jack Swing (as an era/movement) and as a style of music never really received a decent burial. It's because of that (in my opinion) that there is such a sense of "huh?" surrounding New Jack. Most people are familiar with the genre's key artists (i.e. Keith Sweat, Al B. Sure! and Guy) but are *not* familiar with the label "New Jack Swing" and what that means.

As a style of music, producer/musician Bernard Belle (Teddy Riley collaborator too) talks about it here:

http://www.njs4ever.com/bernardbelle.html

As an era, you can visit Njs4ever.com for a primer. In my humble view, one of the best slices of the New Jack Swing sound is "I Wanna Get With U" by Guy from the 1990 Future album. The tamborine sound specifically is what I'm referring to -- the way it is shaken in syncopation with the rest of the song. This rhythmic element can be found in all the hottest New Jack cuts of the day: "My Preogrative" by Bobby Brown, "I Want Her" by Keith Sweat, and "Just Got Paid" by Johnny Kemp.

In my view, the *true* New Jack music enjoyed its heyday between 1987 and 1992, ending around the summer of 1992. By then, the music changed a bit (in reaction to gangsta rap) and acquired a less accessible, harder edge (compare the sunny "Every Little Step" to the more aggressive "Humpin Around" for example).

I'm glad someone brought this up. Because of the silence surrounding the demise of New Jack Swing, the style was able to be resurrected and adapted by the Cheiron studios in Stockholm Sweden, and became a billion-dollar industry thanks to their pop success with Britney Spears, NSync (who remade "Just Got Paid"), The Backstreet Boys, et al...
 
^^^^You forgot to mention one little thing........

Every Little Step is annoying pop fluff whereas Humpin' Around is the badass song of all badass songs!!!!!





BOBBY BROWN GANGSTA **** FOREVER!!!!
 
I read about this once...

New Jack Swing is a groove based of a 16th swing rhythm.

Take your hihat or tambo pattern and make it 16th not based.. add some swing and there you go.

Of course the play of the kick and other percussives also have something to do with it, the main theme is that the swing is present on the 16th note resolution.
 
so the hi hat would be playing 16th notes? steady instead of say the usual 8th's? i was also wondering..what exactly is swing. it's my understanding that it's programming things a little late so it grooves. is that right?
thanks
 
According to the book I read, one of the first songs to utilize the "Sixteenth note shuffle" was Paula Abdul's "Straight Up" written by Elliot Wolff.

Quote:

"In this groove eigth notes are played straight but sixteenth notes are actually the first and third of a sixteenth note triplet"

"Soon after Bobby Brown's "My Pergoative" hit the streets and within a year more than half the songs on the dance chart used the new jack swing to create their underlying rhytmic foundation"

The book gives some examples in rhythmic notation which I cannot easily recreate here..

FYI the book is called:

"Writing Music for Hit Songs" by Jai Josefs
 
Ironically, I had just read a blurb on that from AllMusic.com today. Here is their definition:

New Jack Swing evolved in the late '80s, when urban contemporary soul artists began incorporating hip-hop rhythms, samples, and production techniques into their sound. Some songs simply had hip-hop beats, others had rapped sections and sung choruses, but the overall result was an edgier, more street-oriented sound that seamlessly blended both the melodic qualities of soul and the funky rhythms of rap. It paved the way for the '90s soul, where the dividing line between rap and R&B was frequently indistinguishable.

Basically what everyone else was saying here....
 
Raydio said:
New Jack swing was actually taken from the infamous Leo Gram. Legendary producer for acts such as Tyrone Davis and the Manhattans. Teddy Riley visited Mr. Gram's house in the early 90s and spent time with him and then mess around and came up with New Jack out of no where. Its quite crazy but very true. Witnessing it changed my life. Oh well, thats my two cents.
Click to expand...
I might be a little late to the party but as a new jack swing producer I think I qualify to clarify your statements. You said Teddy visited some guy in the 90's and got his style??? LOL I'm sorry thats not it!!! With respect to the song FRIENDS by Jody Watley and Eric B and Rakim, and I FEEL FOR YOU by Chaka Khan and Melle Mel, and SAVE YOUR LOVE by Rene Moore Angela Winbush, and Kurtis Blow, the then-young prodigy Teddy Riley started developing his art of producing in Harlem, NY by sitting with Kool and the gang, and a few other producers in Harlem early 80's it wasnt until he started performing at a then-famous club called Rooftop that others started noticing him. Teddy started producing hip-hop (Doug E Fresh Slick Rick Heavy D and the Boyz Wreckx N Effect Classical Two) Keith knew Teddy through talent show competition throughout knew NY with his group Jamilah regularly battling Teddy's group called Kids at Work. One day Teddy was playing dice with his homies, and Keith who is from the other side of Harlem walked up like let me get in. Keith took all the winnings. Teddy started talking to him and Keith said look Teddy I just got a record deal with Elektra Records, and I want you to do some music for the album, Teddy told him sorry I dont do rnb I only do rap music. Keith told him thats cool come back play some of your beats for me and lay some RnB type chords down for me. Teddy already had the beats to make it last forever and i want her down (fun fact these 2 songs featured GUY with Aaron Hall writing the songs with Teddy, and singing them, and if you listened to the backgrounds in i want her you can hear Aaron Hall singing) Anyways Teddy went in and produced the whole album for Keith Sweat coming up with beautiful chords mixed with hip-hop beats...this was the album that that really jump-started New jack Swing, and Teddy producing My Prerogative for Bobby and a few songs for Al B. Sure then the GUY album New Jack had officially arrived.... it was Barry Michael Cooper who coined the phrase NEW JACK SWING and told Teddy he was the author the King of it!!! To really get a feel of what it was like....watch his awesome movie NEW JACK CITY then read this article in no particular order...so no Leo Graham had nothing to do with this music if anything he was inspired by teddy Riley as was Jermaine Dupri, Teddy Riley, R. Kelly, Joe, Kenny Greene of Intro, and countless other producers. https://www.njs4ever.com/2020/07/04...-swing-barry-michael-cooper-interview-part-1/ Another fun fact is I actaually was mentored by teddy Riley when I lived in VA Beach in the early 90's, and I was at Future Records on VA Beach Blvd alot, and I wrote the hit record for defunct Motown group Zhane called Request Line. I'm Terrence Bolden BIG T follow me on IG www.instagram.com/big4mat71
 
If you are trying to think of New Jack Swing description wise; It was described as R&B melodies with hip-hop beats as its foundation.
I've always thought some of its key components were:
1. Sampled beats with additional "sweetening" drums.
2. Drum machine drums.
3. Reverb, Delay, and Modulation were used to "flavor" the drum machine sounds to stand out from the samples.
4. Synths, lots of synths - Yamaha DX7, Roland D-50, and Korg M-1 were all over this genre
5. Rhythmic syncopations - pop up all over the place in beats.

Key groups to check out:
1. Guy
2. Bel Biv Devoe
3. Bobby Brown
4. Wreckx-N-Effect
5. Color Me Badd
6. Tony Toni Tone
7. Late New Edition
8. Al B. Sure
9. Joe Public
10. Janet Jackson - Rhythm Nation 1814 time frame

Key producers to check out:
1. Teddy Riley
2. Jam and Lewis
3. Eddie F
4. DeVante Swing

That's all I got. I know I forgot stuff, but the FP crowd fills in the blanks every time.
 
New Jack Swing was all in the name-- "swing." Back beats, heavy on the hi-hat, with plenty of shuffle. Also, pretty busy bass drum figures with dotted 8th/16th patterns.


GJ
 
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