Edward Theodore Riley (born October 8, 1967) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, keyboardist, and record producer credited with the creation of the new jack swing genre. (Riley credits Barry Michael Cooper for giving it its name.) He fused hip hop and R&B in his production work with artists including Michael Jackson, Bobby Brown, Doug E. Fresh, Today, Keith Sweat, Heavy D., Usher, Hi-Five, and Jane Child, and his groups Guy and Blackstreet (although he was not the first to fuse rapping with singing); his consistency and drum ideas had some influence on modern-day R&B, which since him contained more samples and rapping segments as well as singing, a practice which in part was reminiscent of the then work of the Jackson family. Along with Neo Soul style of singers such as Marvin Gaye, he has had a seminal influence on gospel and R&B music, which became more open to using rap and sound effects in their recordings. One of the cliches of his work was how remixes of R&B songs and their original versions with a rap monologue, i.e. "Right Here" and " Two Can Play That Game".\n', '

Teddy Riley was raised in St. Nicholas Houses in Harlem. A child prodigy from the age of five, he began playing instruments in church. His uncle, who owned the famed Harlem club The Rooftop, built a studio in the club in which Riley would spend most of his time while growing up. By 14, upstate New York rappers began making music to his tracks. Under the guidance of local music producer Gene Griffin, Riley formed the short-lived group Kids at Work. At the age of 17, Riley produced Kool Moe Dee\'s 12" single, "Go See the Doctor". Released on an independent label in 1986, the song became a crossover hit, reaching No. 89 on the Billboard Hot 100. Riley had previously worked on the production of Doug E. Fresh and the Get Fresh Crew\'s "The Show" in 1985.\n', '

In 1987, Riley, Aaron Hall, and Timmy Gatling (who would later replaced by Hall\'s brother Damion Hall) formed the R&B group Guy. Managed by Gene Griffin, Riley\'s work with Guy pioneered the "New Jack Swing" style of R&B, which had been showcased previously in Riley\'s productions for Keith Sweat ("I Want Her"), Johnny Kemp ("Just Got Paid"), Bobby Brown ("My Prerogative") and others. Riley infused his own unique blend of hip-hop beats, R&B progressions and the gospel vocal stylings of Hall to create the archetypal New Jack Swing sound on Guy\'s eponymous debut. In 1989, Riley produced Big Daddy Kane\'s "I Get The Job Done", as well as other work for The Jacksons, The Winans and James Ingram. He also created the highly successful remix of Jane Child, "Don\'t Wanna Fall in Love", which became a crossover pop smash.\n', '

Return to Teddy Riley Autograph Profile