New jack swing or swingbeat is a fusion genre spearheaded by Teddy Riley and Bernard Belle which became extremely popular from the late-1980s into the early-1990s. Its influence, along with hip-hop, seeped into pop culture and was the definitive sound of the inventive Black New York club scene. It fuses the rhythms, samples and production techniques of hip-hop and dance-pop with the urban contemporary sound of R&B. The new jack swing style developed as many previous music styles did, by combining elements of older styles with newer sensibilities. It used R&B style vocals sung over hip hop and dance-pop style influenced instrumentation. The sound of new jack swing comes from the hip hop "swing" beats created by drum machine, and hardware samplers, which was popular during the golden age of hip hop, with contemporary R&B style singing.

Merriam-Webster's online dictionary defines new jack swing as "pop music usually performed by black musicians that combines elements of traditional jazz, electronica, smooth jazz, funk, rap, and rhythm and bluesEncyclopædia Britannica calls it the "most pop-oriented rhythm-and-blues music since 1960s Motown", since its "performers were unabashed entertainers, free of artistic pretensions; its songwriters and producers were commercial professionals." New jack swing did not take up the trend of using sampled beats, and instead created beats using the then-new SP-1200 and Roland 808 drum machines to lay an "insistent beat under light melody lines and clearly enunciated vocals." Encyclopædia Britannica states that the "key producers" were Babyface and Teddy Riley.

Jerome Young (born January 3, 1963) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his stage name New Jack in ECW. He is known for his willingness to take dangerous bumps and his stiff hardcore wrestling style, often taking high risks and "shooting" on opponents, though he is only known to shoot on opponents who are deemed disrespectful in the ring. He is also known for having his theme song ("Natural Born Killaz" by Ice Cube and Dr. Dre) play throughout his matches in ECW. The inspiration for his ring name came from the movie New Jack City.

Young trained under Ray Candy and debuted in 1992 in the Memphis, Tennessee-based United States Wrestling Association (USWA), where he adopted the name New Jack. He went on to form a tag team, The Gangstas, with Mustafa Saed in Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW). The Gangstas took part in several controversial angles, on one occasion using affirmative action to enable them to win matches with a two count pinfall as opposed to the conventional three count. They engaged in a long feud with the Rock 'N Roll Express (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson). During their stint, the NAACP would picket outside the performance venues because of the "Gangsta" gimmick, claiming that no racial violence had occurred in the Tennessee area for years, and they didn't want the reputation of gangsters to be put into the Tennessee area.

Johnny Gill (born May 22, 1966) is an American R&B singer-songwriter. He is the sixth and final member of the R&B supergroup New Edition, and was also a member of another supergroup called LSG; with Gerald Levert and Keith Sweat. His signature song "My, My, My" has been included on numerous romantic compilations.

Gill was born on May 22, 1966 in Washington, D.C, the son of a minister. He started singing at the age of five in a family gospel group called "Wings Faith" which included his brothers Bobby, Jeff, and Randy Gill (himself a solo recording artist and member of the group II D Extreme). His recording career began in 1983 when his childhood friend, singer Stacy Lattisaw, convinced him to record a demo. This demo fell into the hands of the president of Atlantic Records, and his self-titled debut album was released shortly thereafter, featuring the minor hit, "Super Love". On this album, Gill played guitar, bass, bongos, and drums in addition to performing lead and background vocals. Gill then teamed up with Stacy for a duet album, which featured their first hit together, "Perfect Combination". A second album on Atlantic Records yielded the song "Half Crazy", which is still a fan favorite.

Edward Theodore Riley (born October 8, 1967), professionally known as Teddy Riley, is a Grammy Award winning, American singer-songwriter, musician, keyboardist, and record producer credited with the creation of the New Jack Swing. Through his production work with Michael Jackson, Bobby Brown, Doug E. Fresh, Today, Keith Sweat, Heavy D., Usher, Jane Child, etc. and membership of the groups Guy and Blackstreet, Riley is credited with having a massive impact and seminal influence on the formation of contemporary R&B, hip-hop, soul, and pop since the 1980s. Riley is reputed to be worth $80 million due to his productions."

Teddy Riley was raised in St. Nicholas Houses, Harlem, New York. Riley, a child prodigy since the age of 5, began playing instruments in the church. His uncle, who owned the famed Harlem club The Rooftop, built a studio in the club in which Riley would spend most of his time while growing up. By 14, upstart New York rappers began making music to his tracks. Under the guidance of local music producer Gene Griffin, Riley formed the short-lived group Kids At Work. At the age of 17, Riley produced Kool Moe Dee's 12" single, "Go See the Doctor". Released on an independent label in 1986, the song became a crossover hit, reaching #89 on The Billboard Hot 100. Riley had previously worked on the production of Doug E. Fresh and the Get Fresh Crew's "The Show" in 1985. His brother in law is popular R&B crooner Omar Chandler.

Simone Gooden (born 2 July 1970), better known by her stage name Monie Love, is an English emcee and former radio personality in the United States. She was a well-respected figure in British hip hop, and made an impact with American hip hop audiences as a protégé of female American emcee Queen Latifah, as well as through her membership in the late 1980s/early 1990s Native Tongues. Love was one of the first BritHop artists to be signed and distributed worldwide by a major record label.

Love was born in the Battersea area of London. She is the younger sister of techno musician Dave Angel, and was a daughter of a London-based, jazz musician father.

Love began her hip hop/BritHop career as an emcee in the British Jus Bad crew, which featured DJ Pogo, Sparki, and MC Mell'O'. The group released the single "Free Style/Proud" on the independent Tuff Groove record label in 1988.

Love first gained critical and commercial notice in the United States in 1989 for her cameos on Queen Latifah's Grammy Award-winning and pro-woman single "Ladies First," on Adeva's "Ring My Bell," on the Jungle Brothers' well-received single "Doin' Our Own Dang," and on De La Soul's hit single "Buddy." The acclaim led her to a recording contract with Warner Bros. Records, making Love one of the few British hip-hop efforts released by a major label.