New jack swing, new jack, or swingbeat is a fusion genre of the rhythms and production techniques of hip hop and dance-pop, and the urban contemporary sound of R&B. Spearheaded by producers Teddy Riley, Bernard Belle, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, new jack swing was most popular from the late 1980s to early 1990s.
Alexander O'Neal is an American R&B singer, songwriter and arranger from Natchez, Mississippi.
James Samuel "Jimmy Jam" Harris III and Terry Steven Lewis are an American R&B/pop songwriting and record production team. They have enjoyed great success since the 1980s with various artists, most intensively with Janet Jackson. They have written 31 top ten hits in the UK and 41 in the US. In 2022, the duo were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the Musical Excellence category.
Crash is the fifth studio album by English synth-pop band the Human League, released on 8 September 1986 by Virgin Records. The album would provide the band with their second US number-one single, "Human", the same year. It was produced by the American production team of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, who also wrote several tracks.
Cheryl Anne Norton, better known by her stage name Cherrelle, is an American R&B singer and songwriter who gained fame in the mid-1980s. Her signature hits include "I Didn't Mean to Turn You On", "Where Do I Run To", "Everything I Miss at Home", and duets with R&B singer Alexander O'Neal such as "Saturday Love" and "Never Knew Love Like This", as well as "Always" with her cousin Pebbles.
Pandemonium is the fourth studio album by American band The Time released in 1990. Much like the three previous albums, the album consists of music in the funk rock genre, although this album breaks the Time's six-song album tradition. The album is a tie-in with the film Graffiti Bridge, and several songs from the album appear in the film.
Sands of Time is the sixth album by the R&B band the S.O.S. Band, released on the Tabu label in April 1986. It was produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. This would be the last album to feature original lead singer Mary Davis before she left the group to embark on a solo career.
Time and Chance is R&B quartet Color Me Badd's second full-length studio album, released in 1993. The album peaked at No. 56 on the Billboard albums chart. It was released after high-profile appearances on the Beverly Hills 90210 and Mo' Money soundtracks, the latter producing the top 20 single "Forever Love". While eventually reaching gold status, the album was initially considered a disappointment due to the success of their first album. The album received praise from critics and contains two hits in both the lead title track single and the Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis-produced "Choose". The former's music video was directed by rapper Ice Cube.
"Everything" is a song by American singer Mary J. Blige. It was written and produced by Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis for Blige's third album, Share My World (1997). The song contains samples from "You Are Everything" (1971) by American soul group The Stylistics and "The Payback" (1973) by American singer James Brown, also incorporating elements from "Sukiyaki" (1961) by Japanese singer Kyu Sakamoto. Due to the inclusion of the samples, Brown, Hachidai Nakamura, Rokusuke Ei, Linda Creed, Thom Bell, John Starks, and Fred Wesley are also credited as songwriters.
Hearsay is the second solo studio album by American recording artist Alexander O'Neal. It was released on July 29, 1987 by Tabu and Epic as the follow-up to O'Neal's critically and commercially successful studio album Alexander O'Neal (1985). Hearsay explores similar genres to those of Alexander O'Neal including pop, R&B, soul, post-disco, funk, and adult contemporary music, while also incorporating a newer genre, new jack swing. The songs were recorded from 1986 to 1987 in sessions that took place at Flyte Time Productions, Inc. Studio A & B in Minneapolis, Minnesota, assisted by R&B songwriting and record production team Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. It features contributions from guest musicians, including Cherrelle, David Eiland, and Lisa Keith, and is generally regarded as the culmination of the smoother, more adult-oriented sound of O'Neal's early work.
"Saturday Love" is a song performed by American R&B singers Cherrelle and Alexander O'Neal. The song was written and produced by Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis and was released in October 1985. It peaked at No. 2 on the US R&B chart and became a moderate pop hit peaking at No. 26 on the US Hot 100 in the spring of 1986. It reached No. 6 on the UK Singles Chart, and No. 7 on the Irish Singles Chart. The song appeared on Cherrelle's gold album, High Priority on Tabu Records and included an extended spoken dialogue introduction skit set in a bar.
"Never Knew Love Like This" is a top ten US R&B hit song duetted by American R&B singers Cherrelle and Alexander O'Neal; released in 1988. The song peaked at #2 in the US R&B chart, #26 in the UK and #28 in the Billboard Hot 100.
"The Lovers" is a song written by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and recorded by American recording artist Alexander O'Neal. It is the fourth single from the singer's second solo album, Hearsay (1987). The song's distinctive backing vocals were performed by Cherrelle and Lisa Keith. Following the successful chart performances of the Hearsay singles "Fake", "Criticize", and "Never Knew Love Like This", "The Lovers" was released as the album's fourth single.
"Innocent" is a song written by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and recorded by American recording artist Alexander O'Neal, whose original version was released as his first solo single in 1985 on Tabu Records. It is also a single from the singer's self-titled debut solo studio album, Alexander O'Neal (1985). The song's distinctive backing vocals were performed by Cherrelle. The song's time was edited for release as a single, with the album version being a medley consisting of "Innocent"/"Alex 9000"/"Innocent II", and was just over six minutes longer.
"When You Talk About Love" is a song recorded by American singer and actress Patti LaBelle. It was written by Ann Nesby, James Harris III, Terry Lewis, and James "Big Jim" Wright for her thirteenth studio album, Flame (1997). Production was helmed by Harris and Lewis, with Wright credited as co-producer. Released as the album's lead single, it became one of the LaBelle's most popular hit singles in the 1990s, reaching number 56 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 12 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. A dance remix of the song helped to bring the song to number-one on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart, making it the fourth number-one dance single in LaBelle's career. The accompanying music video featured LaBelle playing a teacher giving a "class" about love.
High Priority is the second studio album by American singer Cherrelle. Released in October 1985, it reached #9 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop albums chart and #36 on the Billboard 200. It generated Cherrelle's biggest pop hit with her duet with Alexander O'Neal, "Saturday Love" which peaked at #26 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Meant to Be Mint is the debut studio album of R&B band Mint Condition. The album was released on June 11, 1991, on Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis' A&M imprint Perspective Records. Meant to Be Mint reached to no. 13 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.
"I Didn't Mean to Turn You On" is the debut single written by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and originally performed by American singer Cherrelle in 1984. In 1986, "I Didn't Mean to Turn You On" was covered by English singer Robert Palmer. Palmer's cover fared better on the pop chart while Cherrelle's version was a hit on the R&B chart.
Africa to America: The Journey of the Drum is an album by vocal and instrumental ensemble Sounds of Blackness, released in 1994. It includes the singles "I'm Going All the Way", "I Believe", "Everything Is Gonna Be Alright" and "Black Butterfly".
"Somewhat Loved (There You Go Breakin' My Heart)" is a song by American production duo Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis featuring American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey, for the duo's debut studio album Jam & Lewis: Volume One (2021). It was released as the album's third single on June 10, 2021. The song peaked at number nine on the US Adult R&B Songs chart, and number 30 on the US R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart.
