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 The term "New Jack Swing" has been shrouded in a bit of mystery. I've always heard the term was coined by journalist Barry Michael Cooper in describing this new brand of R&B. The second theory is that Teddy Riley himself coined the phrase. I won't be dogmatic here, but I have to agree on the first theory: note the first true NJS lp's, like Al B. Sure's In Effect Mode, Johnny Kemp's Secrets of Flying, and the Guy self titled debut - the term "New Jack Swing" wasn't mentioned by either acts on their records. However, by Guy's second lp, we have Teddy Riley himself saying the phrase over and over again in various tracks. Take a listen to Guy's The Future lp and listen to "Wanna Get With U" and "Gotta Be A Leader," et. al. Honorable mention to the Riley produced song by Wrecks-N-Effect actually called "New Jack Swing." Much to this writer's surprise, when doing a search for Barry Michael Cooper's name an "encyclopedia" came up describing New Jack Swing, with a definitive reference to NJS4Ever! (click here)
At left: Keith Crenshaw, of Njs4ever.com
In order to understand NJS, we have to start at the beginning.the heart and soul of black music: rhythm & blues. Black music as we know it today has its roots in traditional music from the continent of Africa, coupled with various field chants and hollers that were developed during slavery. Then because of the "Western" influence on African-originated music (example: can you imagine an African slave playing an American/Western instrument, like a piano or guitar?) gospel, blues, ragtime, jazz, swing and big-band, rock & roll, soul, rhythm and blues, funk, disco, rap, and eventually hip-hop emerged. Not only were these musical styles, they were also musical eras.
I strongly recommend two books that are a must read for any music aficionado. The first is The Autobiography of Quincy Jones, and the second is The Funk: The Music, The People and The Rhythm of The One by Rickey Vincent. Again, not only do these books chronicle musical styles, but the eras as well. For example: you might loosely describe the 1920's as the ragtime era (young people read: Scott Joplin was a black man), the 40's as the big band era (Count Basie, etc.) the 50's as the Rock and Roll Era (Little Richard, etc) the 60's as the Motown/Stax soul period (Sam & Dave, Marvin Gaye, etc) the 70's as the funk period, (one of my personal favorite eras, with the likes of James Brown, Parliament, etc) the late mid to late 70's as the disco era, the 80's as the pop/R&B era (Michael Jackson, Prince, etc) the early 80's as the "Old School" era for rap and hip-hop (Run-DMC, Kurtis Blow, Whodini, etc). Of course I could literally name hundreds of artists and song titles, but the reader gets the picture. As a musician who plays piano and drums, and has been a Pro DJ since the mid 80's, I understand and have lived through these styles and eras: musically, socially, politically, historically and otherwise. New Jack Swing also was a musical and cultural phenomenon, as Knyte stated. His Year By Year History of NJS chronicles this. NJS came at a period when it was really needed. |
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In some regard, the 1980s were what I call an "R&B Wasteland." I grew up on hardcore funk: James Brown, Parliament, Roger & Zapp, etc., songs that were definitive R&B. In the '80s, black artists were sounding remarkably "pop/rock" (e.g. LL Cool J - circa 1985-1986 "We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off," or Michael's "Beat It"). Conversely, white artists could sound remarkably "urban/soul" (e.g. Human League's "Human," or Jeff Lorber's "Facts of Love"). Recall both Wham! and Boy George had heavy R&B influences. For someone like me that grew up on Soul & Funk, a mild dichotomy happened in the '80s for urban kids: either you were on the side of the growing rap scene (Run-DMC) or the pop/R&B scene (Prince). Of course, growing up in a major city like L.A., it was all good music.
We had a major urban radio station called AM 1580 KDAY. They played it all. See the video with L.A. Air Personality "The Mack Attack" Greg Mack and myself for more insights. At the high school dances, we danced to it all. However, as rap & hip-hop became more hard-hitting, edgier and definitive, R&B was being left behind. If you wanted funky, dance-able beats you had to turn to hip hop. No problem, but in urban street music, the melody was left behind for an edgier, street tone. Check out LL Cool J's "Rock The Bells," or UTFO's "Roxanne, Roxanne." As a teenager growing up, I loved it! But, I was sure missing an actual melody, and had to settle for stuff like Nu Shooz's "I Can't Wait."
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