Teddy Riley has always had the cutting edge on production. Highlights of his career include forming R&B super groups Guy and Blackstreet, co-producing and co-engineering Michael Jacksons Dangerous album (which has sold over 32 million copies) winning Riley a Grammy for Best Engineering non-classical. He has produced countless landmark records, such as the LP Make it Last Keith Sweat, Bobby Browns My Perogative, Johnny Kemp Just Got Paid, Blackstreet No Diggity, The Hip Hop Classic The Show, Rugrats The Movie and hit after hit for the late Heavy D and a long list of others.
Riley is also credited for creating a genre: New Jack Swing, which has been a noticeable influence in popular music since the late '80s. Now, more than 25 years after he first started making waves in music, Teddy is still going strong with grand stage performances globally and sellout concerts with his new members of Blackstreet and some featuring Dave Hollister on US tours.
It all started for Teddy in Harlem, New York, where as a teenager he was shown the studio world by his mentor Royal Bayyan. Between the ages of 13 and 17, he attended studio sessions with the likes of Kool & The Gang, Freddie Jackson along with Cheryl Lynn, and unsurprisingly because of his gift in music, became a natural in that environment. Shortly thereafter, he was an in-demand composer/producer working with some of the biggest names in Pop/R&B music carving his own worldwide musical niche that would become known as New Jack Swing.
I didnt make up the name new jack swing, says Teddy. It was given to me Barry Michael Cooper. Cooper co-wrote the screenplay for the film New Jack City and was a prominent music journalist in New York in the early '90s. He did an interview with me and asked me how I would describe my music. I said sophisticated bubblegum R&B. He said thats too long, you should call it new jack swing, because youre the new kid on the block thats swinging it. So I give credit to him for giving me that name. I ran with it and everybody joined the movement. Bobby Brown, Kool Moe Dee, Guy, Blackstreet, Boyz II Men, Bel Biv Devoe, New Kids On The Block, N Sync, Backstreet Boys. They made my genre big. And that feels great, for so many musicians and artists to be a part of such a strong movement. We all are still doing New Jack Swing.
Teddy has a purpose-built studio space Future Recording Studios 2 in his house about an hour north of Atlanta, Georgia. Its all about being intimate with an artist, and to be able to get a lot of work done without anybody knowing.
His gear choices are diverse but refined: a mixture of classic sound modules from the '80s and '90s, numerous high-quality outboard processors and some modern synths, all connected to a DAW system running Studio One software. I like to do a lot of testing with gear. So the things that you see in here are here to stay, because I love the sound of them. Im still old-school with my outboard instruments and analogue stuff, I even still have my two-inch tape machine, I call it the washing machine. But I have my DAW system, which I love. I try to keep it as close to the sound I used to have, sonically, and its very close. Some people are saying it sounds stronger, some people say its very authentic to the Guy and Michael Jackson stuff.
Key to Teddys studio rig is the Focusrite Control 2802 analogue console and DAW control surface. Among his favorite things about it are the moving-fader automation features and the built-in stereo compressor: I do all my automation rides on the 2802. Then, once I get my mix where I need it, I pop the two-bus compression in and tweak the controls. The more I push it, the more punch I get, and it sounds amazing. Its similar to the compression on a Neve or on an SSL, theres really nothing else I can compare it to. I used to have a Euphonix board, and the Focusrite two-bus compression beats it by a long shot. Im really loving it.
Teddy also uses lots of VST instruments inside his DAW, which he controls with a Novation 61 SL MkII. I can control all my instruments from the SL, and I never have to touch the keyboard. The transport control is right here, and I can alter any of the sounds from right in front of me. I can pretty much do anything with it! I also like the configuration of the pitch and mod wheels, because you can be more expressive, and it feels great! This is the ultimate for me: this stays in the stable.
The MiniNova is the latest addition to Teddys collection of gear, which he refers to as his stable and the family. I was searching for vocoder and synthesizer sounds and ran across the MiniNova. My tech brought it in from Guitar Center and I plugged it up and I immediately thought wow, this is amazing. This little instrument has such a big sound and I use the vocoder a lot. It sounds so different from the other vocoders I use, and thats what makes it so unique. The Vocal Tune feature is in one of my new songs. I actually use some of the dubstep sounds and the arpeggiators too, and I sync it to my DAW so it plays back at the same tempo.
We spent a day with Teddy, where he showed us around Future Recording Studios 2 and played us a brand new version of Guys 1988 hit Teddys Jam on the MiniNova. Check it out!
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
07/08/2025
July 8 2025, 22:30 (PDT) Tata Motors & Dolby Bring Dolby Atmos to Harrier.ev, R...
17/07/2025
Early Thursday morning, the U.S. Senate voted to cut federal funding for PBS and NPR in a bill that also included cuts for foreign aid. In a 51-48 vote, the act...
17/07/2025
GREAT Britain and Northern Ireland Pavilions across IBC2025 (12 15 September, RAI Amsterdam) feature a remarkable 34 companies, each providing unique, innovativ...
17/07/2025
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers today introduced its Content Provenance and Authenticity (CPA) in Media Study Group (S...
17/07/2025
NEW YORK Despite widespread concerns about a soft advertising market, NBCUniversal said it closed its 2025-26 upfront negotiation cycle with a record ad sales v...
17/07/2025
NEW YORK Television advertising remains an effective means to market and influence younger baby boomer and Generation X consumers approaching retirement age, ac...
17/07/2025
ALLENTOWN, Pa. & JERSEY CITY, N.J. Service Electric Cable TV and OpenVault have announced that the operator is deploying the OpenVault Proactive Network Manage...
17/07/2025
WASHINGTON Following up on his first major policy speech just two ago, Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr is promising to buck the usual summ...
17/07/2025
Luxembourg, 14 July 2025 - SES received the final regulatory approvals for the SES-Intelsat transaction, including the US Federal Communications Commission.
O...
17/07/2025
Berklee Alumni Nominated for 2025 Emmy Awards Twenty-three Berklee alumni received nominations across categories in sound mixing, sound editing, and compositi...
16/07/2025
It's Emmy nominations day, and Sundance Institute storytellers are basking i...
16/07/2025
Spotify's podcast editorial team is always on the hunt for shows and episodes that spark conversation, push boundaries, and keep us coming back for more. As...
16/07/2025
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({...
16/07/2025
Join us at IBC this September and take control of your content. Discover how we're bringing a new level of purpose and precision to the application of AI in...
16/07/2025
Warsaw - Poland, June 24, 2025 - Nielsen, the global leader in audience measurement, data and analytics, has released its latest May All Screens Video Landscape...
16/07/2025
Bluey Tops Nielsen's Overall Streaming List with More Than 25 Billion Minutes Streamed from January through June 2025
Big June Vaults Squid Game into Top O...
16/07/2025
TV SIM, the SBT affiliate serving Esp rito Santo state in Brazil, has launched a transmitter upgrade initiative with the installation of a Rohde & Schwarz R&S T...
16/07/2025
Pebble, the leading automation, content management and integrated channel specialist, is turning its vision to the future of automation with its demonstrations ...
16/07/2025
Ikegami announces a new addition to its UNICAM-XE product range with the introduction of the UHK-X700RF wireless portable camera: The new version has the same f...
16/07/2025
Today, Amazon Web Services added TwelveLabs as a new model provider to Amazon Bedrock, delivering what could be the most significant breakthrough in enterprise ...
16/07/2025
NEW YORK Streaming platforms continued to dominate TV viewing patterns in June, with data from Nielsen's 50th monthly report of The Gauge showing that strea...
16/07/2025
MAHWAH, NJ Ikegami has introduced the the UHK-X700RF wireless portable camera, a new addition to its UNICAM-XE product range with the same feature set, operatio...
16/07/2025
LONDON IBC2025 organizers said global attendees will have access to a new feature that will integrate Amsterdam's GVB public transport pass into the officia...
16/07/2025
July 16th, 2025
Tribeca Films to Release the Acclaimed LARPing Doc WE CAN BE HEROES by Carina Mia Wong and Alex Simmons, Alongside a Slate of Festival-Favori...
16/07/2025
Deltatre Acquires Endeavor Streaming in Major Streaming Industry Move The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2025 By Brandon Costa, Direc...
16/07/2025
SVG Regional Sports Production Summit 2025: All Sessions Now Available to Watch ...
16/07/2025
Wednesday 16 July 2025
Sky and ITV today announced an extension of their long-standing partnership, which will see ITV's content and services remain seamle...
16/07/2025
Sky Sports lifts the lid on Lions life with hilarious behind-the-scenes mockumentaryWednesday 16 July 2025
To view this content, please enable our use of cooki...
16/07/2025
CULVER CITY, CALIFORNIA Apple TV+ today earned a record-breaking 81 Emmy Award nominations across 14 hit Apple Original titles for this year's 77th Emmy Awa...
15/07/2025
Independent media outlets in Brazil and Colombia are invited to apply for a new programme aimed at strengthening the long-term resilience of journalism in the f...
15/07/2025
By Lucy Spicer
One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival...
15/07/2025
Spotify une fuerzas con DiDi, la app l der en servicios de movilidad, delivery y...
15/07/2025
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
15/07/2025
L3Harris put its CORVUS-RAVEN counter-small UAS capability into the hands of soldiers at VANAHEIM, showcasing its ability to provide passive signal detect, enha...
15/07/2025
Netflix Viewing Up 13.5% vs. May, Represents 42% of Monthly Gain for Streaming
...
15/07/2025
SAN FRANCISCO and BENGALARU, India Sangeeta Chakraborty has been named chief revenue officer at Amagi, a cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) technology pro...
15/07/2025
As part of its mandate, the Advanced Television Systems Committee the U.S. organization tasked with developing advanced broadcast TV standards promotes ATSC 3.0...
15/07/2025
QuickLink, the leading global provider of multi-camera video productions and remote contributions, announces the launch of two innovative control panels Studi...
15/07/2025
Chris Kontopanos has joined leading high-quality microphone solutions manufacturer, DPA Microphones, as the company's new Regional Sales Manager for the Mid...
15/07/2025
Magnifi by VideoVerse, a global leader in AI-powered video automation, has launched a major platform upgrade built to simplify live and archival video editing f...
15/07/2025
Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, will preview its latest innovations at IBC2025, Stand 7.B21. This year's showcase highlights how...
15/07/2025
IBC2025 is set to transform the onsite experience for its global attendees with the launch of a pioneering new feature: full integration of Amsterdam's GVB ...
15/07/2025
Music, sport and technology collided in spectacular fashion as ASB GlassFloor powered the debut of Beats N Buckets, Germany's first Basketball meets Hip-Ho...
15/07/2025
The Collectv, the Emmy award-winning broadcast solutions and workflows consultancy - and winner of Broadcast Tech's Team of the Year is delighted to announc...
15/07/2025
SipRadius, the expert in secure, low latency media transport, will showcase how broadcasters and media companies can take control of fragmented IP workflows at ...
15/07/2025
Appear, the global leader in live production technology, today announced its strategic partnership with beIN ASIA PACIFIC, a leading multi-platform sports media...
15/07/2025
Company marks 15 years of innovation at the show
Broadpeak, a leader in streaming and monetization at scale, will return to IBC (Hall 1, Stand F83. RAI, Amster...
Teddy Riley has always had the cutting edge on production. Highlights of his career include forming R&B super groups Guy and Blackstreet, co-producing and co-engineering Michael Jacksons Dangerous album (which has sold over 32 million copies) winning Riley a Grammy for Best Engineering non-classical. He has produced countless landmark records, such as the LP Make it Last Keith Sweat, Bobby Browns My Perogative, Johnny Kemp Just Got Paid, Blackstreet No Diggity, The Hip Hop Classic The Show, Rugrats The Movie and hit after hit for the late Heavy D and a long list of others.
