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Hey Folks,

Let's dive into a conversation on the New Jack Swing Era as well as some history and cultural discussion. What were your favorite songs, albums, tours, music videos, dance moves?

Also note that some of the songs mentioned during the highlights are not easily categorized as New Jack Swing, but land relatively close and are more so associated with that era.

When people think of New Jack Swing they associate it with rap and a unique kind of R&B and when New Jack Swing debuted in the 90's this was the top genre of R&B and hip-hop and rap. And with groups like Tony Toni Tone! Guy Troop and others New Jack Swing started really taking off on it's own. While artists like R. Kelly Tevin Campbell and Bobby Brown were releasing albums in the 90's it proved that New Jack Swing was indeed here to stay. Also in the 90's R&B brought a whole lot of new female R&B singers and groups adding a female version of New Jack Swing dubbed New Jill Swing. Starting with groups like SWV TLC and Brownstone New Jill Swing had the same success as New Jack Swing. With female artists such as Karyn White releasing their new albums in the 90's New Jack/Jill Swing saw the debuts of other female groups such as Xscape Jade and En Vogue and when En Vogue released their second album Funky Divas in 1992 that album was a huge seller for En Vogue. We also saw the debuts of young talented child groups like Immature and Another Bad Creation and when Immature debuted in 1992 they were the top band and top crushes of young girls and they became even more popular when their second album was released in 1994 and we also got introduced to Soul For Real whose single Candy Rain dominated radio stations when their debut album of the same name came out in 1995. Now can you remember playing Joe Public's hit single Live And Learn as a kid? Or owning a copy of Karyn White's 1991 album Ritual Of Love? Or singing along to the lyrics of Weak by SWV or watching the music video of Zhane's Hey Mr. DJ on BET as a teen? When you hear those songs now you can see why New Jack/Jill Swing really was giant in the 90's? But these days it's hard to find good R&B artists and groups today because with artists like Keyshia Cole Tamia Usher Beyonce and Tamar Braxton I feel that New Jack Swing should make a comeback to R&B music today because in the 90's it was actually really good

I love New Jack Swing R&B,its excellent!!

I got to listen to Joe Public's Live And Learn from 1992 and that song is a perfect example of how great New Jack Swing was in the 90's and with it's great beat made it a great song. Another artist that became popular in New Jack Swing was Dino and when he made his debut with the song Romeo Dino became an instant sensation though he disappeared after his second single I Like It. Pebbles was huge during New Jack/Jill Swing with hits like Giving You The Benefit and Mercedes Boy but once singers like Mary J. Blige debuted in 1992 Pebbles's career went downhill. But when Mary J. Blige released her debut album What's The 411? in 1992 Mary J. Blige brought a whole different sound to R&B and her debut single Real Love climbing up the Billboard charts Mary J. Blige was well on her way to becoming a superstar. But let me ask you these questions? Do you remember cleaning up your room and listening to Tevin Campbell's debut single Round And Round? Or listening to After 7's hit Can't Stop while in the car driving to the mall or movie theater? After 7's Can't Stop is another great example of how New Jack Swing was gonna be and it proved that R&B had taken a whole different direction

Another rap group that became popular with New Jack Swing was PM Dawn and I can tell that many of your friends and possibly yourself owned or remember their classic hit Set Adrift On Memory Bliss which cleverly sampled the Spandau Ballet hit True and when PM Dawn came out they brought out a whole new image of rap music and they released hit after hit from their albums. Another group that became popular in New Jack Swing but originally made their debut in the 80's was Levert and you probably remember their hit Casanova and when you look at it Levert really took off and released hit after hit. But as artists like Keith Sweat and Johnny Gill took off in the 90's New Jack Swing really was a new world of R&B that was different. But in female singers Karyn White made a huge name for herself when her 1991 album Ritual Of Love came out scoring monster hits like Romantic and The Way I Feel About You that album shows how impressive Karyn White was. Another star that became hot in the 90's was Shanice and when she released her comeback hit I Love Your Smile in 1991 she had proven herself lucky and she was only seventeen turned eighteen when her album Inner Child hit stores. Shanice was already a superstar in 1987 when released her first album Discovery at fourteen. But when her most famous album of the 90's 21 Ways To Grow came out in 1994 Shanice was showing some New Jack Swing in that album with hits like I Like and ballads Turn Down The Lights and I Wish and even though that album was a smash hit for Shanice she didn't make another comeback until 1999 with her self-titled album. But if you listen to 90's R&B today you'll probably understand what made New Jack/Jill Swing so special in the 90's

Mary J. Blige is another example of how big New Jack/Jill Swing was and when she released her debut album What's The 411? in 1992 Her hit single Real Love proved that Mary J. Blige would be a shining light in R&B and New Jack Swing. Another male group that added hints of New Jack Swing was Jodeci and when they released their first single Come And Talk To Me Jodeci was on top and they continued to release successful albums before they split. But perhaps one of the top female groups that showed promise but unfortunately was short-lived was Jade and when Jade debuted in 1992 the single Don't Walk Away became a monster hit for Jade as did the album Jade To The Max and proved that these ladies had talent. Growing up you probably owned a copy of Jade To The Max as a teenager but although their second album from 1994 was a bigger success Jade split up for reasons unknown. Even today it is hard to find R&B groups and singers who mirror New Jack/Jill Swing with pop and country replacing R&B and rap

Another artist to begin using New Jack Swing was Vanessa Williams as shown in her second album The Comfort Zone in 1991 and if you own that album listen to the song Running Back To You which uses New Jack Swing to make a fine dance hit and another group that was short-lived was Calloway who had a hit with the song I Wanna Be Rich and that song was a popular song back in 1990 but they never had another single after that. Another artist who made his mark in New Jack Swing was a singer named Christopher Williams and he debuted in 1989 with his first album Changes he showed New Jack Swing in some of his songs but after one more hit Christopher Williams never had another album and we saw British R&B artist Keith Washington start using New Jack Swing in his songs he became popular in America. But as country music became more popular as did pop New Jack/Jill Swing continued to become more popular as time went on

I bet you remember listening to an artist named Dino? With his 1989 debut Romeo Dino was the first artist to begin the start of New Jack Swing and based on that alone New Jack Swing became popular. But when it really took off was when groups like Color Me Badd and New Edition began using New Jack Swing and I bet you remember when Color Me Badd became a hit boy-band with their song All For Love? But when Tevin Campbell made his debut in 1991 at just 14 years old his first single Round And Round had some elements of New Jack Swing and made Tevin a huge household name. But when Mary J. Blige made her debut in 1992 she really made New Jack Swing really take off on it's own and though people called her a R&B hip-hop artist I think Mary J. Blige was really trying to be like Natalie Cole because when she did ballads you could hear traces of Natalie Cole in her voice. But if you were to ask anyone about the best part of 90's music they will most likely tell you New Jack/Jill Swing