—with additional reporting by Drea Oppan
One of the greatest producers of all-time, Teddy Riley, is currently on tour with his legendary group Guy for the first time since 1990. The ’90s Block Party’ tour has been getting accolades from fans and looking strong at the box office. And last Saturday, at the New York stop, Riley announced that his current outing is just a taste of what’s to come.
He told the crowd at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden that he’s putting together another tour based on his game-changing (and life-changing) signature sound of New Jack Swing. And two days ago, after speaking on a panel at SXSW, Riley elaborated that the tour may have other blockbuster events accompanying it.
“It’s a lot of people on it,” he told REVOLT TV of the New Jack Swing tour. “We’re switching different shows, different cities, you know, whoever’s the favorite in that city. Right now, we’re talking about Keith Sweat, Bobby Brown, Al B. Sure, Blackstreet, Guy, Big Daddy Kane, Doug E. Fresh, Wreckx-N-Effect, Today, Big Bub, and we would like to have Mary J. Blige, Christopher Williams. And I’d like to see Babyface on there because a lot of people don’t know that Babyface [record “It’s No Crime”] was New Jack Swing. And then, The Deele, After 7, they’ve been on a few of our dates and we’d like for them to be on the tour because they did New Jack Swing.”
He continued, “We’re talking about so many different events, like ‘New Jack Swing on the Beach.’ How Sinbad, how he did ‘Soul Beach,’ [the] New Jack Swing [tour] could actually be a festival because you had so many New Jack Swing artists. Even the older artists, you know, they wanted to get back into it, like The time, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. And then Janet Jackson. We also did the Jackson 5’s 2300 Jackson Street, and then [the posthumous album] Michael.”
Riley did not have a date for the New Jack Swing tour, but you can definitely still catch him on the ’90s Block Party’ tour through mid-May. 112, Jagged Edge, Monica, Dru Hill, Ginuwine and Next are also on the bill.