Description
Edward Theodore Riley (born October 8, 1967) is an American record producer and songwriter credited with the creation of the R&B-hip hop fusion genre new jack swing. He is the creator and lead singer of the musical group Blackstreet, as well as its precedessor, Guy. The genre also gained popularity from artists who heavily utilized Riley's production and songwriting distinction, namely Michael Jackson, Bobby Brown, Heavy D & the Boyz, Keith Sweat, Hi-Five, and the Jackson 5, among others.
With Blackstreet and Guy, Riley has released four and three respective studio albums to commercial success. Riley's production became notable for its influence on contemporary R&B, leading to more samples, sound effects and rapping segments as well as singing—a practice which in part was reminiscent of the Jackson family. Riley is also credited with popularizing modern use of the talk box vocoder.
Riley, a two-time Grammy Award winner, achieved his furthest commercial success and notability handling the production for Michael Jackson's "Remember the Time" in 1992, Bobby Brown's "My Prerogative" in 1988, SWV's "Right Here (Human Nature Remix)" in 1992, and his group Blackstreet's hit single "No Diggity" (featuring Dr. Dre and Queen Pen) in 1993. In the 2010s and 2020s, Riley began to work with musical groups in the Eastern pop market, producing the hit songs "Call Me Baby" for Exo in 2015, "The Boys" for Girls' Generation in 2011, and "Mamacita" for Super Junior in 2014.
