Biography
Teddy Riley also known to the world as "The King of New Jack Swing" has truly made a name for himself. At the age of 15, he produced the underground classic "Raps New Generation", by Classical II. His composition of one-hit wonder Johnny Kemp's "Just Got Paid" became a very popular track reaching 1 on the billboard R&B charts in the spring of 1988. Keith Sweat’s Just Got Paid was also produced by Teddy Riley. Along with other Sweat hits such as, Make It Last Forever, released in November 1987and "I Want Her" , "Something Just Ain't Right". He also produced tracks for hip hop artists such as Kool Moe Dee and Heavy D. and The Boys on their debut album, Livin' Large (1987) on Uptown/MCA Records.
Riley's first major mainstream hit produced song was Bobby Brown's "My Prerogative" along with writing skills of Guy's Aaron Hall. Riley got the idea of forming his own group after it was suggested to him that a younger singer named Aaron Hall was looking to join a group. After meeting at a New York mall, Riley and Hall became friends and formed what would be Guy in 1987. Complete with a third member – Timmy Gaitling- they recorded and finished their self-titled debut in the summer 1988, which by the time of Gatling's exit and Hall's younger brother Damian's entry. The album sold over 3 million copies with hits like "Groove Me", "Teddy's Jam", "Piece of My Love", "I Like" and "Spend the Night". The album had established the group as a unique R&B musical force through out the end of the 1980s into the 1990s.
Guy appeared on the 1989 Spike Lee film Do The Right Thing soundtrack with their song "My Fantasy" In 1990 Teddy produced hits such as ""Wanna Get With U", "Let's Chill", "Do Me Right", "Her" and "D.O.G. Me Out". Guy contributed a song to the soundtrack of Mario Van Peebles 1991 directoral debut film New Jack City, which stared Wesley Snipes, Ice-T and Chris Rock. Guy also appeared in the film as the New Year's Eve Band. Guy also contributed to the 1992 film FernGully: The Last Rainforest soundtrack, with the song "Land Of A Thousand Dances" Before the band Guy split up, Riley moved his music operations to Virginia Beach, where he set up his Future Recording Studio.
Teddy worked on Michaels Jackson’s Dangerous and Invincible. Including the hits "Remember the Time", "Jam" which featured Heavy D, "In the Closet", the title song "Dangerous", "Heaven Can Wait", and "Whatever Happens" featuring Carlos Santana. Riley also went on to contribute to the Juice soundtrack which starred rapper Tupac Shakur aka 2Pac. Riley's song "Is It Good To You" performed with long time collaborator Tammy Lucas was a smash hit. His fellow ex-Guy bandmate Aaron Hall was also on the soundtrack his song "Don't Be Afraid" was one of the big hits on the soundtrack.
Even throughout his reign as producer, Riley found time to form another band, Blackstreet, in 1992. The first song that Blackstreet released was "Baby Be Mine" which was off the "CB4" soundtrack which starred Chris Rock. In 1994, Blackstreet released their debut self-titled platinum selling album which featured the hits "Booti Call" and "Before I Let Go". The follow-up album took the group to national prominence with the release of their second effort, Another Level, in 1996, which sold 4x platinum, it featured their biggest-selling hit to date, "No Diggity".
Teddy Riley is still current in today’s music world. His recent credits include hits on Snoop Dogg’s most recent album Ego Trippin "Snoop Dogg is Out," "Gangsta Like Me," as well as recently touring with the D-O-double G as his musical director in 2008. Other recent hits include New Kids on the Block-The Block "Grown Man," Busta Rhymes-Big Bang "Lights, Camera, Action," John Legend-Evolver "It’s Over," Keith Sweat-Just Me "The Floor," Clyde Carson ft. The Game "Tonight," and De La Ghetto-Massacre Musical "Serial Love" to name a few.
You can expect many new hits from Teddy Riley in the future and possibly even a solo album in the upcoming year. Stay tuned!