Edward Theodore Riley (born October 8, 1967), professionally known
as Teddy Riley, is an American singer-songwriter, musician, keyboardist,
and record producer credited with the creation of New Jack Swing.
Through his production work with Michael Jackson, Bobby Brown, Doug
E. Fresh, Today, Keith Sweat, Heavy D., Jane Child, etc. and membership
of the groups Guy and Blackstreet, Riley is credited with having
a massive impact and seminal influence on the formation of contemporary
R&B, Hip-Hop , Soul, and Pop since the 1980s. Riley is reputed
to be worth $80 million due to his productions.".
Teddy Riley was raised in St. Nicholas Houses, Harlem, New York.
Riley, a child prodigy since the age of 5, began playing instruments
in the 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, upstart 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".[1] Released on an independent label in 1986,
the song became a crossover hit, reaching #89 on The Billboard Hot
100.[5] Riley had previously worked on the production of Doug E.
Fresh and the Get Fresh Crew's "The Show" in 1985.[6] His
brother in law is popular R&B crooner Omar Chandler.
[edit] Career
In 1987, Riley, Aaron Hall, and Timmy Gatling 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 Johnny Kemp ("Just Got Paid"),
Bobby Brown ("My Prerogative"), and Keith Sweat (Make It
Last Forever), among 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, James
Ingram; he also created the highly successful remix of Jane Child, "Don't
Wanna Fall in Love", which became a crossover pop smash.
After the release and tour of Guy's second album The Future, Riley
co-produced half of Michael Jackson's album Dangerous, on the recommendation
of Jackson's long-time producer Quincy Jones. Featuring the Riley
co-produced singles "Remember the Time", "Jam",
and "In the Closet", Dangerous remains the most successful
New jack swing album of all time with 32 million copies sold.[7][8]
After the disbandment of Guy in 1992, Riley moved to production,
performance on and promotion of Wreckx-N-Effect's second album Hard
or Smooth. Based in Virginia by this time, Riley discovered The Neptunes
who assisted production on Wreckx-N-Effect's smash hit single Rump
Shaker.
In late 1992, Riley formed a second group, Blackstreet, with Chauncey
Hannibal as lead singer. The group would go on to release several
major hits, including "Don't Leave Me" (1997), the number
one single "No Diggity" (1996, featuring Dr. Dre and Queen
Pen), and "Girlfriend/Boyfriend" (1999, with Janet Jackson,
Eve, and Ja Rule). By 2011, the group had disbanded and reformed
several times.
In 2000, Riley worked on an album with Outsiderz 4 Life, producing "Wil'
Out" and other songs.
At the start of 2006, he was part of the New Jack Reunion Tour,
featuring Blackstreet and Guy, in addition to After 7, SWV, and Tony
Toni Toné. In May 2006 Riley announced that he would be working
on two key projects: a new Blackstreet album and a new Guy album.
In June 2008, a fire destroyed Riley's Virginia Beach recording
studio. Fire investigators said that an electrical problem caused
the blaze that burned the abandoned recording studio. The Virginia
Beach Fire Department said lightning in the area also could have
been a factor, although there was no direct strike. The empty studio
was for sale and was insured for $336,000.[9]
In 2009, Riley performed with Guy at the BET Awards.[10] In the
same year, Riley worked with Amerie and Robin Thicke on their respective
albums. Leading on from his work on Snoop Dogg's album Ego Trippin'
Riley became part of the production supergroup QDT, which features
DJ Quik as well as Snoop Dogg. Teddy produced and Taja Riley co-wrote
an album track "Teeth" with Lady Gaga for her EP The Fame
Monster
Speaking in March 2010 to Blues & Soul's Pete Lewis - Riley
said that he was no longer affiliated with Guy (Riley last performed
with the group in October 2010). Riley also said that the current
line-up of Blackstreet comprised himself, Chauncey Hannibal, Dave
Hollister and Sherman 'J-Stylez' Tinsdale. He also confirmed that
he was working on a new Blackstreet album, though intended to release
his own album - entitled 'TRX' - first. Artists he could possibly
be working with for the project included Stevie Wonder, Elton John,
plus his own new, upcoming acts.[3] However, Hannibal, who is no
longer performing with the group and the lineup is now Riley, Dave
Hollister, & returning are Mark Middleton & Eric Williams.
In August 2010, co-executor of the Michael Jackson estate, John
Branca, confirmed that a posthumous album of Michael Jackson would
be released, containing work done in the previous five years with
producers Neff-U, Christopher "Tricky" Stewart and Riley
himself, as well as work written and produced solely by Jackson himself.
The album Michael was released on December 14, 2010 in the United
States. Riley has insisted that all the songs were sung by Jackson
amidst controversy, but claimed that vocal processing was done which
added artifacts to the voice. He has also expressed his belief that
Jackson is alive and in hiding.
Recently, Riley has stepped into the Korean music market. Riley
worked with singer/rapper Jay Park on a track titled 'Demon', which
has yet to be officially released, and produced a mini album for
the Korean girl group RaNia. Riley is one of the producers for Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins,
new debut solo album, Still Cool, as a solo producer and as a part
of QDT, with DJ Quik and Snoop Dogg. He produced the
track "Flow" for the Twenty album of the R&B group
Boyz II Men. He is currently producing for Korean girl group Girls'
Generation for their first international release.