Former Virginia Beach music producer Teddy Riley is returning to Hampton Roads on Friday to give us a little piece of his love.
Riley is headlining the R&B Valentine’s Rewind at the Hampton Coliseum, joined by 1980s and ’90s R&B acts such as Riley’s first group, Guy, 112, K-Ci from Jodeci and the female trio 702.
Riley was only 23, but already a blazing hot New York producer, when he decided he wanted to make music in the quieter suburbs of Virginia Beach. He opened his studio, Future Records, on Virginia Beach Boulevard, a few blocks from Pembroke Mall.
He created music for the likes of Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder and ‘N Sync, and also composed a beat that defined a generation.
Here are five ways in which Riley has earned love from the music industry and some local love as well:
Riley’s impact on music: The mid-1980s saw the coupling of two musical genres that seemed too star-crossed to ever meet: the smooth crooning of R&B with the break beats and thumping of hip-hop. Riley produced some of the first hits of what became “New Jack Swing,” including Keith Sweat’s “I Want Her” in 1987 and Johnny Kemp’s “Just Got Paid” in 1988.
This was after he helped produce the 1985 party anthem “The Show” with high school chum Doug E. Fresh.
In a 1987 Village Voice article, journalist Barry Michael Cooper profiled Riley as this industry-changing musician from Harlem and gave his sound its name: “It was in the Bronx River that the young man mixed rap, gospel, jazz, funk, go-go, and gothic romanticism by way of synthesizers. After worshiping and playing in several churches, playing and learning in several playgrounds and music classes, he found the elements to put together a totally new form of R&B. I call it The New Jack Swing.”
The sound became synonymous with oversized shoulder pads (for men, too), high-top and Gumby fades, and gold rope chains. Riley’s sound became the literal soundtrack of the time as he produced songs that were as central to certain movies as their characters, such as “Do the Right Thing” in 1989 and the 1991 gangster film “New Jack City.”
Riley’s impact on local music: Riley did the unthinkable; he transformed sleepy Virginia Beach into a hotbed of R&B music in the 1990s. Pharrell Williams, another internationally known producer, got his start with Riley while a student at Princess Anne High, a five-minute walk from Riley’s studio.
People like rapper Heavy D might be at Riley’s Virginia Beach Boulevard studio one day and boy-band New Kids on the Block the next.
When word got out in 1991 that Riley was producing Michael Jackson’s “Dangerous” album, locals would slow their roll when they passed the studio in hopes of seeing the Gloved One. Riley could be spotted late night at the nearby IHOP, eating with a booth of hopeful musicians.
Riley and “Wreckx-N-Effect” created a different type of traffic jam in July 1992 when they cordoned off the beach at 31st Street and Atlantic. The Oceanfront was the set for about 50 bikini-clad women dancing — appropriately — for the hit “Rump Shaker.”
Pharrell and Chad Hugo formed The Neptunes and became A-listers among rap and pop singers such as Snoop Dogg and Britney Spears. Riley created another hit act, Blackstreet, with its “No Diggity,” and producers and songwriters Missy Elliott of Portsmouth and Timbaland of Virginia Beach zoomed to the top as well.
Grammy nominee lists of the 2000s read like a Hampton Roads directory with Pharrell, Hugo, Missy Elliott and Timbaland receiving numerous nods almost each year for some of the industry’s hottest albums and tracks.
Riley was known for his work beyond the studio: Before moving from the area in the mid-2000s, Riley held annual community Thanksgiving dinners, talent shows to raise money for local charities and New Jack Swing Summer Basketball Tournaments to keep kids busy, and he often signed up to speak at high schools to motivate teens.
Riley has a great story: By several accounts, Riley was a musical prodigy. In the 1987 Village Voice article, Riley told the story of being less than a year old and turning on an old record player. He said his mother told him that he stood on the turntable as it revolved, staring at the machine. She said, according to the article, “I was trying to find out where the sound was coming from.” By the age of 4, he was playing the piano. By age 6, he had a manager. By age 10, he could play six instruments, including the guitar and bass.
He’s a survivor: Riley has been involved in famous court battles during the years with former group members in Blackstreet and Lady Gaga, and in public spats with icon Quincy Jones. He filed for bankruptcy protection in 2002. Riley has continued to make music, including putting his name with K-Pop artists in recent years.
In 2016, he was given the Soul Train Legend Award and in December he was honored by the city of New York for his role creating the “New Jack Swing” sound. He is scheduled to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame this year.
If you go
What: R&B Valentine’s Rewind, with Blackstreet featuring Teddy Riley and Dave Hollister, Guy, 112, K-Ci from Jodeci, and 702
When: 8 p.m. Friday
Where: Hampton Coliseum, 1000 Coliseum Drive
Tickets: $49-$89, 800-745-3000, www.hamptoncoliseum.org
?Denise M. Watson, 757-446-2504, denise.watson@pilotonline.com
