Episode Summary
In our previous episode, we covered Teddy Riley's influential production career. In this episode, we focus on his journey as a performer, starting from his pioneering new jack swing days with Guy, a brief stop with his brother's group, Wreckx-N-Effect and finally to his Blackstreet era. Teddy's run as both a producer and performer is one that few artists can match.
Transcript
Miguel: Welcome back to They Reminisce Over You. I'm Miguel.
Christina: And I'm Christina. And today, we are doing part two of the Teddy Riley episode. In case you missed the first part, we had to break it up into two parts because his resume is so long.
Miguel: It's like a CVS receipt.
Christina: It is. So in this episode, we're just gonna focus on his work as a performer, specifically with Guy and Blackstreet and a little bit with Wreckx-N-Effect. But before we get into those groups, let's take a little step back and talk about how he got his start.
Miguel: We mentioned in the last episode that he was in a group called Kids at Work.
Christina: Which makes me laugh every time. Kids at Work.
Miguel: With Timmy Gatling and Clurel Henderson. We know that Timmy was also a member of Guy and he was working at a shoe store with Aaron Hall and heard him singing in the stockroom apparently. So he told Aaron about his boy Teddy, who is a musician and he was in a group with before. And then he told Teddy about Aaron and brought him over and they started to work on the Guy album.
Christina: Just like that.
Miguel: Just like that. This is after he had gotten back into the R&B game with Keith Sweat and Johnny Kemp. I guess he figured it was time to start a new group and that became Guy.
Christina: Okay.
Miguel: So we're just gonna talk about the first three or the only three Guy albums and some of our favorites from all of them.
Christina: So the first Guy album, self-titled (Guy), came out in 1988. For me, I didn't discover the Guy songs until a little bit later because like I always say, the 80s are a little spotty for me. But re-listening to it now made me realize how much this album basically laid the foundation for all the R&B albums that I loved in the early 90s and also why I love Blackstreet so much. Because Blackstreet is basically like an updated Guy, when you think about it. So, you know, we've mentioned many times in the last episode, Teddy and New Jack Swing is known for his danceability.
Miguel: Yes.
Christina: But they can also do slow and mid-tempo jams too. So as much as “Groove Me” is going to get you dancing, Teddy's playing a keytar, of course, in the video, so he can play his keys and still dance.
Miguel: Right.
Christina: With his headset.
Miguel: Like he's working at Wendy's or something, Wendy's drive-thru.
Christina: Exactly. So you got that. But you will also have "Piece of My Love" and "Goodbye Love."
Miguel: And he did not say "dumb bitch[1]" in the song.
Christina: He did not.
Miguel: Regardless of what we all heard as children.
Christina: Because that's pretty bold. Like as much as there's misogyny in music, that's a lot.
Miguel: But now that we have better technology and we can hear these songs a lot clearer, he did not say dumb bitch.
Christina: Teddy says he was in the middle of his little dum dum ditty that he likes to do and that's just kind of how it recorded. But yeah, I never believed that he said dumb bitch.
Miguel: I did. I know what I heard, but I've been proven wrong in recent years.
Christina: Like “Piece of My Love,” it may be a song about a side chick, but I still think that's a bit much.
Miguel: I know. I know logically it doesn't make sense. But I thought I heard what I heard, so I was going to stick with it.
Christina: I guess. But it's been debunked.
Miguel: Yes.
Christina: He also did “Teddy's Jam,” which is interesting because it's mostly instrumental.
Miguel: Yeah.
Christina: That has also led to one of your favorite jokes.
Miguel: “Jam. Oh jam.”
Christina: You and Will Smith on Fresh Prince, always throwing in “Jam” into the scenes and stuff.
Miguel: If you grew up in the 80s and 90s, this is just part of all of our collective memories. So we just spout them off every now and then.
Christina: So how did you feel when you first heard this record, this album?
Miguel: Like I mentioned in the last episode, this is when I'm in junior high school. So I am seventh, eighth grade when all of this stuff is coming out. And just like the dancers in the videos, like, you had the Gucci Girls crew in the “Teddy’s Jam” video[2] was it? I don't remember, one of them, but everybody had a crew. So we would be dancing in our quote unquote crew. So this was perfect for us because we just in the junior high gym getting all sweaty and stanky dancing to this and getting our moves on, messing the floors up, jumping over our legs, shirts sticking to our bodies and just stanking up the place.
Christina: Back when your knee joints didn't crack.
Miguel: Yeah. When everything was in perfect working order. This was right up our alley because like I said, we could dance to all this stuff. “Groove Me,” “Teddy's Jam,” “You Can Call Me Crazy.” “I Like.” See, “I Like” is the one that you just get your two-step on to.
Christina: The little break in between, give you a little bit of breathing room.
Miguel: Yeah, to let you calm down a little bit before you crank it back up again. But yeah, I loved all of this stuff. This was right up young Miguel's alley.
Christina: So fair to say this left an impression on you.
Miguel: Yes. So we're supposed to be talking about a couple songs from each album, right?
Christina: Yes.
Miguel: I didn't write down any songs for this album.
Christina: Because it's the whole album.
Miguel: The only thing it says is “banger.” That's it.
Christina: Yeah.
Miguel: That's what this album is. And from top to bottom, we would just run it road trips for like, the travelling basketball team, junior high dances, hearing it on the radio. This was us.
Christina: So a young Miguel was all in.
Miguel: Yes. Flattop, rayon shirts, patent leather shoes.
Christina: Well, they didn't keep you waiting long with another album.
Miguel: They did not.
Christina: ‘Cause The Future came out just a year later in 1989.
Miguel: Yes.
Christina: This one I feel didn't have as many bangers overall, like, as a full album.
Miguel: True.
Christina: But they did have bangers.
Miguel: Yeah. The highs are high on this album.
Christina: The highs are high. For me, it was “Wanna Get With U” and “Let's Chill.” Those are like, Guy songs.
Miguel: And “Do Me Right” was another good one too.
Christina: Okay.
Miguel: I like that one. And them acknowledging, hey, he is basically channeling Charlie Wilson here. So, they did that Gap Band “Yearning For Your Love” cover just to say, yeah, yeah, we know that this nigga is trying to be Charlie Wilson over here. Let's go ahead and acknowledge that.
Christina: But he's Aaron Hall.
Miguel: Yes. But we know where it came from. I also think “Gotta Be A Leader” was funny because they're acknowledging the situation with Gene Griffin and how he was screwing them over on the credits and on the money and whatnot. But the raps are just horrible.
Christina: I don't even remember.
Miguel: They are some bad raps, but they had some things they had to get off their chest.
Christina: Let them have it.
Miguel: Yeah, we on our own now.
Christina: Well, this was a time that I guess there were some issues as well. So technically there is a third album.
Miguel: Yes.
Christina: That doesn't come until much later. So I think I want to just take a little break here before we talk about third album, just to squeeze in the Wreckx-N-Effect self-titled album (Wrecks-N-Effect.)[3]
Miguel: Yes.
Christina: Because that came out in ’89 as well. And even though Teddy technically wasn't part of the group, I was watching a bunch of interviews so I may have got the timeline sort of mixed up. But I think at this time he was sort of like, fine, Guy don't want me around. I got other things to do.
Miguel: Right. So he had a bunch of production that he was already doing as evidenced by our previous episode. And one of the acts that he was working with was Wreckx-N-Effect. It was four dudes from the projects that he grew up in, including his brother Mark.
Christina: The original Marky Mark.
Miguel: Yes, the original Marky Mark was a member of Wreckx-N-Effect. When they did their first album, of course, Teddy did all of the production on it. They did a song called “New Jack Swing,” just to let everybody know this is what we're doing. And I'm the guy responsible for it.
Christina: You know what's wild about that song is he does this little rap where he does a bunch of name dropping,[4] which is crazy because this is 1989.
Miguel: Yes.
Christina: And he's “Bobby Brown, Keith Sweat, Heavy D, Guy, Boy George,” you're just like, what? I think there was a couple more names that I missed.
Miguel: Yeah, Redhead Kingpin, he threw in there. Just everybody that he had made hits for. I'm the man.
Christina: That's me, New Jack Swing, me.
Miguel: And New Jack Swing is the new shit. Get on board.
Christina: Mm-hmm. So I thought that was funny where he was like, let me just sprinkle my resume in case you didn't know. Now you do.
Miguel: This is who Teddy is. Yep. Yep. But yeah, the Wreckx-N-Effect album, there were four members originally. The only song I really remember from that album is “New Jack Swing,” because that was the biggest hit, obviously. Between albums, one member passed away and another just left, leaving Aqil, A-Plus, and Mark. So that's when Teddy's having his beef with Guy over here, like, well, if y'all don't want me around, I can go over here with my brother and his homie and still make hits. I don’t need y’all. And that's basically what he did.
Christina: And hits he made, because they had a second album, Hard or Smooth, in 1992, which birthed “Rump Shaker,” which is a huge song.
Miguel: Yes.
Christina: I think he said it was like the first like booty shaking music video and they got like banned on MTV and everything.
Miguel: I do remember them getting taken off TV, but I don't remember if this was the first video with butts in it.
Christina: I don't know if it's the first, but it definitely was probably one of the early memorable ones.
Miguel: Yes, it was.
Christina: And the woman playing the saxophone at the beginning, which I just realized, because you told me and I saw in an interview is Bobby Brown's current wife.
Miguel: Yes.
Christina: But as soon as you told me that and I watched the video,[5] I was like, oh, her face hasn't really changed that much. So I'm like, oh, that's her.
Miguel: Apparently, Teddy said they were dating at the time. So he's gonna put his girl in the video.
Christina: Yep. So I was like, hey, I know that face.
Miguel: And you also get Teddy's rap written by a young Pharrell Williams, who was sniffing around his studio at the time. Chad and Pharrell of the Neptunes were working with Teddy at this time.
Christina: The beginnings of another, soon to be notable person in the industry.
Miguel: I actually like this album a lot better than the first album. And surprisingly, because I hadn't listened to this in who knows how long, maybe 20 years until yesterday. And completely forgot how much I actually liked this album because the first four or five songs are just all bangers because “Rump Shaker” is the first one on it. You got “New Jack Swing” to “Wreckx Shop,” “Knock-N-Boots,” I'm into all of that. That was my shit.
Christina: Oh, I just wanted to go back to Pharrell writing his part for “Rump Shaker.” He did say, he wanted to say that he came up with the “zoom zoom” part.
Miguel: Yes.
Christina: He was like, I wrote that part.
Miguel: Yes.
Christina: The iconic line.
Miguel: The hook was him, but the verse was Pharrell.
Christina: Which is still being referenced today.
Miguel: It is.
Christina: And we, I think, I'm sure we've mentioned this before, considering this video was like banned[6] and stuff when you're watching it now. Yeah, there's ladies shaking their butts and stuff, but it wasn't that bad, was it?
Miguel: It's so tame now. You look at it now, like they're wearing like full bikinis and whatnot.
Christina: Right.
Miguel: Butts are completely covered up in this video.
Christina: Yeah. And what's hilarious, like, like I said, it just came out in 1992. So I'm watching the video. My first thought is like, look at somebody's mama over here shaking her ass. And I'm like, wait a minute, this is somebody's grandma.
Miguel: I told you that in one of the comments, someone said my grandmother's in this video.
Christina: That's crazy. I can't believe we're this old.
Miguel: Yeah, I'm not old, I’m classic.
Christina: I'm not as old as the ladies in the video because I was still a kid when this came out, but I'm not that far behind.
Miguel: I'm trending towards 50 and I'm cool with that, but I'm not there yet. We haven't hit the 50 mark yet.
Christina: So some of your grandmas were hot to trot back in ’92.
Miguel: Your grannies and your aunties were in the “Rump Shaker” video.
Christina: All right, so he took a little break from Guy, did some Wreckx-N-Effect.
Miguel: And that brings us to—
Christina: Another group.
Miguel: Another group that he created called Blackstreet. Today is actually the 30th anniversary of the release of the first Blackstreet album.
Christina: Which we actually didn't plan, it just kind of worked out that way.
Miguel: No, we did not plan this, it just happened that way.
Christina: But hey, kismet.
Miguel: Exactly. So he puts together a new group called Blackstreet.
Christina: So first album self-titled was released in 1994, which is well, 30th anniversary today.
Miguel: But they had a single on the CB4 soundtrack called “Baby Be Mine.”
Christina: Yes.
Miguel: And I like this version[7] way better than the album version because the raps on the album version are terrible.
Christina: I like both versions, but yeah, the CB4 version is much better.
Miguel: Yes. And that version has Joseph Stonestreet singing lead on it. By the time the album rolls around, he's gone and Dave Hollister is now singing lead on this song, which develops a pattern of the career of Blackstreet because every time you see them, they're a completely different group.
Christina: Which took me, like, I didn't even notice. Like, I noticed David Hollister leaving probably because he had, like, a couple of solo hits and he kind of looks different from the rest of the group, whereas some of the other ones could be a little interchangeable. As long as Chauncey and Teddy was there.
Miguel: Yeah, they're the constants.
Christina: They were like the staples.
Miguel: But everybody else was rotating in and out. And like I said, from their first single to the debut album, they've already switched out one of the leads. But I did like “Baby Be Mine,” the original version. But this album itself has other hits on it as well.
Christina: This first album had a lot of hits.
Miguel: Yeah.
Christina: I really like pretty much the entire album. And also we sort of mentioned this in the first episode with the sound of hip hop changing around this time because this was 1994. And I think that this album kind of shows like a slightly updated version of Teddy's original New Jack Swing because we're also getting a lot of G-Funk by this time.
Miguel: So it's a mixture of the two.
Christina: Yeah. And you can even see that in the fashion as well. Like in the videos for “I Like The Way You Work,” you can see how the style of dressing is not that, you're not getting the colorful Cross Colour looks anymore. You're not getting the hard bottoms and the slacks. You're wearing hockey jerseys and plaid shirts and stuff.
Miguel: And Karl Kani jeans and whatnot.
Christina: So yeah, the style is now kind of, it's still New Jack Swing, but it has sort of that new hip hop influence to it as well.
Miguel: There's some edge to it.
Christina: The G-Funk was blowing up around this time. But it's not as, you'll still sweat when you're dancing, but we weren't dancing quite as hard.
Miguel: Yeah, It's a little bit slowed down. This is your two-step era now.
Christina: Right, yeah. So, we get more like, mid-tempos, like “Baby Be Mine,” “You Blow My Mind,” “I Like The Way You Work,” “Booti Call,” like, you're still dancing.
Miguel: Exactly.
Christina: But, they also gave you slow jams. One of the biggest songs was “Before I Let You Go,” but they also had some good ones. Tammy Lucas, again, got the shaft on “Tonight's The Night,” because in the video version[8] is-
Miguel: She's not there.
Christina: Nope, SWV and Craig Mack kind of take over, but I like both versions because I love me some SWV as well, and I've said it so many times, I love Tammy Lucas too. But “Before I Let You Go,” that one, that's a big song.
Miguel: One that you didn't mention that I absolutely love is a song that was a holdover from the Michael Jackson sessions that he was doing.
Christina: Are you gonna say “Joy?”
Miguel: Yes.
Christina: Because in my notes, I put “Joy” sounds like something Michael would sing.
Miguel: Michael has sung it, and I will send you the link to his demo, but they just didn't use it for whatever reason. So Teddy was like, Well, I got it. I may as well go ahead and use it. So this was originally a song for Michael Jackson.[9]
Christina: Sounds like it.
Miguel: Done for Blackstreet.
Christina: I wanted to ask you how you feel about the “Loves in Need” cover, because I know you're always you're a little iffy when people do covers, especially from like, very established artists like Stevie Wonder. I like it.
Miguel: I see what they were trying to do, but, ugh, I can't do it.
Christina: Doesn’t work for you? I like it.
Miguel: Not at all. I get it. But no, it didn't work for me.
Christina: All right. You can have that. You can have that opinion.
Miguel: I will take it.
Christina: This is like, one of my favorite albums. I love this album.
Miguel: I'm aware. I hear it played a lot over our almost 20 years together. I'm quite aware.
Christina: I always just think it's funny how like, you can make songs lyrically that aren't very nice, but they sound nice. What was it called? Melodic misogyny?
Miguel: Melodic misogyny.
Christina: Because I love “Booti Call” and physical thing and both of those songs is about exactly what it sounds like. I don't know if it's maybe the way Chauncey's voice sounds. He's kind of like, crooning to you, even though he was just like, don't get emotional. It's just a physical thing. But I love those two songs.
Miguel: I'm a fan of “Booti Call” too. Okay, I'm going to put this out there right now. And it's not going to be a controversial statement either. It's a statement of fact because Teddy said the same thing. Teddy can't sing. He said in one of these interviews that I watched, he's like, I can't sing, but he makes great songs. So on all of these songs, they fit perfectly. And “Booti Call” is one of them. Like, nobody else can do “Booti Call.” I don't want to hear Chauncey singing “Booty Call.” I don't want to hear Dave Hollister singing “Booti Call.” I want to hear Teddy singing “Booti Call.”
Christina: When you had a song that needed a vocalist though, Chauncey or David Hollister would take over. Like, he's not going to sing “Before I Let You Go.”
Miguel: Yeah.
Christina: But like, aside from like, the little hooks and whatnot.
Miguel: But “Booti Call?” that's all Teddy. That's his lane. And that's what I love about him is he knows his limits and he stays within it.
Christina: I think that's important for most people to understand.
Miguel: A lot of people don't understand that, but Teddy does.
Christina: He is fairly humble about his career, I would say, because just watching these videos, sorry, just watching these interviews, he's always like, I still have more to learn.
Miguel: Right.
Christina: You know, and this is like, decades into his career.
Miguel: These are interviews from like, last year.
Christina: Yeah. So I find that pretty interesting because I think aren't Harlem dudes known for being flashy and boisterous and out there?
Miguel: They are.
Christina: But he's like, humble at the same time in his way. So he's already had an illustrious career as a producer, working with Guy. First Blackstreet album comes out. It's also a banger. Then we get a second Blackstreet album. Like, there's no signs of slowing down.
Miguel: At all.
Christina: So the second one is called Another Level, came out in 1996. And I think with this album, you can really hear the transition away from the more traditional New Jack Swing sound. And the R&B started to take on like, a harder hip hop influence. So in my notes, I put that we're starting to get to the Jeep music. Remember how we always say, there's always this is for the Jeeps, the head bobbing, kind of a little slower laid back sound. Like, I think you could hear it in “This Is How We Roll” and “Fix.” You're not dancing in your slacks anymore for sure. That's long gone.
Miguel: Yes, and the biggest indicator of that is “No Diggity.”
Christina: Yes.
Miguel: That song is an all-timer. You got the Bill Withers “Grandma Hands” sample. And the way I look at it with all the “well…well, well” in the song is, and they probably did the video[10] this way for that reason. Teddy made a blues record for the clubs. This is basically a blues record, but for the club. And I'm just like, this is brilliant. It's brilliant. Even though for years I have insisted that those are Dre's drums, I will finally acknowledge that they weren't Dre's drums because Teddy said that he got the sample from one of his assistant producers, the guy who's credited as co-producing this record. That makes me believe that the guy working with him was trying to sound like Dre at this time because everybody was at this point.
Christina: Well, it didn't keep Dre from jumping on the song.
Miguel: It did not. And that's probably another reason why he was like, I want to be on this record or at least in the video.
Christina: Well, according to Teddy, he said he wanted to be in the video and Teddy's like, no, if you're going to be in the video, you're also going to give me a 16.
Miguel: Right. And immediately—
Christina: I need something from you.
Miguel: Immediately gave it to him. Teddy said he got that verse back in like, 24 hours. That's how badly he wanted to be in it because he missed the “Rump Shaker” video. So he wanted to be around some butts again. It was like, y'all ain't leaving me out. If I got to rap a verse just to be around the butts, I'm rapping it.
Christina: And then you got Queen Pen on it too to, I guess you're not going to get a Tammy Lucas hook this time, but you'll still get some feminine representation.
Miguel: Yeah, Teddy said it just didn't feel right without another rap in the song just to balance it out. And brought in Tammy.
Christina: Queen Pen.
Miguel: Oh yeah, Queen Pen. And here we go, the blues record for the clubs.
Christina: We thought that “Rump Shaker” was a big hit and then he came with “No Diggity.”
Miguel: Outside of the Michael Jackson stuff, this is probably his biggest hit.
Christina: Yeah, I think so.
Miguel: Because I have seen some of the strangest covers of this song[11].
Christina: Covers as well as just like, in random commercials and stuff. Yeah, so it's definitely a crossover hit, let's say. And he also said that Heavy D, who was always trying to steal songs from him, not trying, who did always steal songs from him, wanted “No Diggity” bad. And for once he was like, friend, I'm not doing this for you, I'm keeping it for myself.
Miguel: You've gotten 10 of them from me that were meant for others.
Christina: He’s taken “We Got Our Own Thang,” “Now That We Found Love,” “Is It Good to You,” he's like, you already took a bunch of songs that were supposed to be for Wreckx-N-Effect, I'm not giving you this.
Miguel: So you can't have this one. So for Heavy D and Dre both to say that we like this song, gave him the motivation to keep going even though everybody else in Blackstreet didn't like it.
Christina: That's funny.
Miguel: They didn't like it. He said he presented it to Aaron Hall to sing on it. He didn't like it. So that's why he's singing on it because nobody else would.
Christina: So “No Diggity” was a big club song, but as I said, they'll always still give you a slower tempo song. “Don't Leave Me.”
Miguel: Yes.
Christina: You can always win with a well-placed Debarge sample.
Miguel: Exactly.
Christina: And it was a pretty big hit too.
Miguel: I love me some Debarge, so I was hooked.
Christina: So this one gave us a lot of hits as well.
Miguel: The one that shocked me though was the Beatles cover “Money Can't Buy Me Love.” I was not expecting that at all.
Christina: You know what? I don't think I even knew that was the Beatles.
Miguel: Yep. That's a Beatles song. It doesn't sound anything like the Beatles version, but that's a Beatles record. And I also like the “Blackstreet On the Radio” because they're acknowledging the shifting lineups and people coming in and out of the group and his issues with Guy. So I thought that was pretty entertaining too.
Christina: So I guess that kind of wraps up the discussion of this album, but there's more.
Miguel: There is.
Christina: We got another one.
Miguel: Yep.
Christina: Finally, 1998.
Miguel: This one I wasn't as much on.
Christina: This one was, they had a couple hits, but these ones were definitely like, in that style of crossover that I'm not that big with. They did “Take Me There” with Mya, which was in what was it?
Miguel: Rugrats.
Christina: Rugrats. So that definitely gave it some crossover appeal. And the “Girlfriend/Boyfriend” with Janet Jackson. Ja Rule I think was on it too.
Miguel: I don't remember Ja Rule.
Christina: I think he might have been on like the video version or something, but definitely was with Janet. Yeah, just didn't work for me. However, again, I don't know how you feel about it because I know you and your covers. I like the original version of “Think About You,” but I really, really, really, really like the “All I Do remix” of “Think About You,” where it's mostly a Stevie cover and then they kind of work in some of the “Think About You” lyrics into it, and I really like that one.
Miguel: It's cool. I don't dislike this one as much as “Loves in Need.” That one I just like, ugh. But this one's okay. If it's on, I won't turn it off, but I'm not going to look for it either.
Christina: Yeah. So for me, that one's the winner, but the album overall, ehhh. But I think again, this was 1998. There's another shift at this time as well. I think we mentioned it was some other artists we were talking about because I remember saying I was into DMX at this point.
Miguel: Right.
Christina: So, I mean, I was still listening to R&B obviously, but…
Miguel: The R&B was different at this point.
Christina: Yeah, the R&B and the rap and hip hop were starting to switch again. So, perhaps this is where this fit in for me in terms of like, I got other things I'm going to listen to.
Miguel: Yeah, same. I really wasn't listening to Blackstreet at this point just for those same reasons. Into other things.
Christina: I think also sometimes when you achieve like a certain crossover appeal, that kind of changes your music too? Maybe that was part of it? I don’t know.
Miguel: Not for me. Everything just has its time.
Christina: Yeah.
Miguel: Like, nothing is infinite. I can't think of anything that I've consistently listened to without falling off for a little bit at some point. There's been some things that have brought me back to people, but pretty much everyone has had the, ehh, I’m not messing with you right now, but I still love you.
Christina: And I think that with us kind of looking at the whole discography and sort of realizing at what era each album fell into, it kind of makes sense. ‘Cause now we're seeing, okay, this was like, you know, ’92, ’93, and this was like, ’96, this was ’98. And we can kind of coincide it with what was happening around that time with other artists and other sounds and stuff. So it makes sense that in ’98, this probably isn't going to be as popular as the new sounds that were coming out at that time.
Miguel: And then you also have Teddy and Chauncey beefing at this point too.
Christina: Yeah, that probably didn't help.
Miguel: So that would lead Teddy back to the Hall brothers for their third album in 2000, just called III. So what were your thoughts on this?
Christina: I remember the one single, “Dancin’,” which I also really liked.
Miguel: That you have been singing for a week now.
Christina: I forgot about it and then just saw it again while I was looking up stuff like this. I was like, oh yeah, I love this song. So this is 2000. So again, this for me is like, peak going outside time. I was about to say in Canada, like, drinking clubbing age is like,19. So I got an earlier start than you.
Miguel: Yes.
Christina: I'm younger than you, so I guess it coincides to around the same time. But yeah, it's like, a fun club song and I really like it. But the rest of the album, I'm like, ah.
Miguel: Yeah, I only really know that song.
Christina: Yeah.
Miguel: I don't even really know “Teddy's Jam 3” and I'm all in on the Teddy's Jams.
Christina: Yeah.
Miguel: I don't even know this one.
Christina: So I think that single was a good attempt and like, updating the sound and stuff. But I never listened to the rest of the album. This was the first time.
Miguel: Yeah, same. Yesterday was the first time I had ever heard it. So I have nothing to say about it.
Christina: Yeah, I don't either, except for I like “Dancin’.”
Miguel: So I guess that means we got to circle back to Blackstreet.
Christina: Circle back to Blackstreet.
Miguel: I don't even know which lineup this is because like we've been talking about, there were people rotating in and out so many different times.
Christina: Yeah, so this one is Level II. When did it come out? I forgot to note it.
Miguel: Level II was 2003.
Christina: Okay, so we're circling back to Blackstreet. Another album I don't remember much of. I just remember “Deep.”
Miguel: I remember “Bygones” only because Dave Hollister is on it as well. So he came back for this one song. And yeah, I remember that. I remember reading about how they had gotten back together and doing “Bygones.” But other than that, I don't really know this album much either.
Christina: Yeah, same. I don't have much to say about this one either because the one song I know I didn't really like. So that's that on that.
Miguel: Actually looking at the track listing now, I remember “Wizzy Wow” because Mystikal is on it.
Christina: Oh yeah, I did not remember it at all.
Miguel: I remember that one now that I think about it. Yeah, this wasn't up my alley at all at this point.
Christina: So even though the latest albums of Guy and Blackstreet kind of like, petered off for us, this is still quite the run.
Miguel: Yeah, because the early stuff was so good that—
Christina: It doesn't even matter.
Miguel: It doesn't matter. It does not matter at all.
Christina: And like, what I was saying earlier, like, the early Guy albums basically set the precedent for, for so much of the early 90s R&B that would follow.
Miguel: So, we've gone through a full episode of Teddy's production discography. We've gone through his performer discography. Do you have any favorite songs out of all of that?
Christina: Oh…
Miguel: Yeah, I'm gonna put you on the spot here.
Christina: Yeah, I thought you were just going to ask me like, favorite songs between Guy and Blackstreet.
Miguel: Well, you could do that as well. Do you have any Guy and Backstreet? Backstreet, Blackstreet songs that are your favorites and then as an addendum, all of his stuff.
Christina: You threw me for a loop.
Miguel: Okay, so just stick with Guy and Blackstreet.
Christina: Okay. All right. So, I mean, even that is hard. I would say for Blackstreet, “Before I Let You Go” for like, a slower song and “I Like The Way You Work” for like, a mid-tempo song.
Miguel: Also, I do like the callback of “I Like The Way You Work” on “No Diggity.” I forgot to mention that earlier.
Christina: Wait, what's the callback?
Miguel: “I like the way you work it, no diggity.”
Christina: Duh.
Miguel: The blatant one.
Christina: “I like the way you work it.” Okay. I’m silly. Yeah, so for Blackstreet, that's a hard choice and it may change, but that's what I'm going with right now.
Miguel: Okay.
Christina: And for Guy, I'm going to say, “Piece of My Love.” No. As much as I like the uptempo songs, I think the ones that I love are the slower ones.
Miguel: That makes sense.
Christina: I’m gonna pick “Let's Chill” and “Goodbye Love.”
Miguel: Yes. Which really hit me when Nas sampled it on his album. I was like, hey, I forgot about this song.
Christina: Which is why I think I love that song so much. Because I didn't really listen to Guy when they first came out. So I was like, a fan of Guy without knowing it because I was such a huge fan of Blackstreet. So when I finally went back to listen to Guy, I was like, oh, this is where it really came from. And that's probably why I like the Nas song so much because it has the Guy sample. So it's like the foundation was there.
Miguel: Right.
Christina: I just didn't know who laid it until a little bit later.
Miguel: That's the beauty of hip hop and R&B. For me, I'm going with “Groove Me” for Guy. You have to choose that one, at least for me, because I'm a little bit older. Like I said, this is prime junior high dance era. So I got to go with “Groove Me” on that one. And for Blackstreet, I'm going with “Don't Leave.”
Christina: Yes, that's good.
Miguel: They're going to be my two choices.
Christina: I think maybe if I was a little bit older, I probably would have more of an emotional connection. I just thought of it right now with what you were saying with the more uptempo songs, but I wasn't really out dancing with it. I don't have any like, specific memories attached to any of them.
Miguel: That makes sense.
Christina: So I think if I was out there sweating with my friends, it probably would have been a little closer to my heart.
Miguel: Right. I respect it.
Christina: Yeah. All right. So that is two episodes about Teddy, which still doesn't really cover everything.
Miguel: But I think we covered like 15 percent.
Christina: But I think it's a thorough discussion about Teddy's influence in his work and everything that he's created. A lot of producers will have a specific sound, but he created a genre.
Miguel: Yes.
Christina: Which is pretty big. So I would suggest that if you guys want more. We're going to make a playlist, of course, and it's probably going to be really long. But I think you might have to make a video playlist for this episode. We talk about the dancing so much.
Miguel: Yeah, I was going to do that as well. So go to our YouTube channel to check that out.
Christina: Yeah, because you definitely need to see New Jack Swing as well.
Miguel: I will also say that you need to watch the Verzuz[12] with Teddy Riley and Babyface, specifically the first one, just because of all of the technical issues that were going on.
Christina: Because Teddy wanted to do too much as usual.
Miguel: It was hilarious.
Christina: He was ready to put on a production.
Miguel: Yes, like, we're doing this on our phones, and Teddy had a full production going on.
Christina: He's the consummate performer.
Miguel: So go ahead and check out that one and the one that they had to do a week later because of getting the technical issues fixed. So check both of those out.
Christina: Even the second one was hilarious because it was meant to be more toned down since it didn't work out the first time. But when Babyface pulled out the guitar, Teddy was like, what? I thought we were supposed to just play songs. He got all excited again.
Miguel: So yeah, check those out. Check out some of the interviews that we mentioned. We're going to link to those on the website as well. It gives you a lot of insight into Teddy's career and how he works. And yeah, that's just pretty much it.
Christina: “Jam.”
Miguel: “Dum dum ditty.” “Yep. Yep.”
Christina: All right. I think we did it.
Miguel: We did. So this is a good place to wrap it up. Thank you again for coming and listening to They Reminisce Over You. Every two weeks, we try and put out an episode. Sometimes we take breaks here and there, but for the most part, you're here every couple weeks. If you want to join our newsletter mailing list, go ahead and do that by going to our website at troypodcast.com/newsletter. It comes out once a month. There's tons of goodies in it. Suggestions, funny videos, good things like that.
Christina: Fun stuff.
Miguel: Yeah. And it's free.
Plus, you know, also we have a store. So if you would like to buy some merch, we have the TROY Podcast branded merch along with a lot of other pop culture references as well. troypodcast.com, ugh, at teethang.com, T-E-E-T-H-A-N-G .com, Nuthin’ but a Tee Thang is our store. So go check that out. If you want to hear some of the music that we were talking about, go to our website. We will post the playlist on there. I'm scared to think about how long it's going to be. But this is probably going to be one of those things that you could put on at work and just let it rock the entire week because it's going to be long. It's going to be long because we're putting on Teddy stuff. We're putting on other New Jack Swing stuff from the era. So it's going to be long.
Christina: It's going to be long.
Miguel: Strap in. Bring a lunch.
Christina: And dinner.
Miguel: Maybe even dinner. Is there anything else you would like to say because I got nothing else?
Christina: I think that's it.
Miguel: That is it. So, we are out of here and we will be getting back with you in a couple weeks.